Temperance
by Mage of Hope
Summary: Six years have passed since the Tenrou Island incident, and the current Fairy Tail members are losing hope, when suddenly, a tomboyish Mage and her Exceed join, determined to find out if she's Gray's sister while causing chaos! Join Azure Fullbuster, later known as the Aqua Berserker, fighting for the guild as the Water Dragon Slayer! Will change to Rated M in many chapters later!
1. Prologue

**I know, I'm sorry for delaying this, but you do have to understand I have schoolwork and all that sort of stuff. It's hard trying to learn how to draw or animate things, since I'm trying to learn. Anyways, here's the first chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs!**

* * *

X790. Six long years has passed since Tenrou Island has been oblitered by the dragon, Acnologia. Since then, the famous Fairy Tail became the weakest guild in the region, with only a few guild members left. In fact, Fairy Tail has become a small tavern. It's a wonder how it managed to survive this long.

The remaining guild members have all changed. First, there was Macao Conbolt. After Makarov seemed to be dead, he took the position of the new Guild Master and wants to be referred as 'Master.' His friend, Wakaba, who's now his advisor, are the same as ever, drinking beer, arguing with each other, and getting jealous of each other.

Bisca and Alzack have gotten married six years ago and had a lovely daughter named Asuka. In fact, they were probably the only couple in Fairy Tail, but they loved every single guild member regardless of their small status.

Max, Warren, Nab, and Vjeeter were kinda still the same. Max was mostly quiet, Nab still hasn't picked out a job since the last six years, Warren and Vjeeter were still...themselves.

Jet and Droy were still friends, though Droy has gotten a lot fatter. Reedus, the painter for the guild, has gotten thinner and more excellent in painting. Laki was still her usual self, except she has become more beautiful, and she, Laki, and Kinana were the only women in Fairy Tail. Four, if you count Asuka.

Finally, there was Romeo, Macao's son. Ever since Natsu and the others were rumored to be dead, he became quiet, and haven't cracked a smile ever since. Also, he believes his father is a coward for doing nothing to defend their guild, despite him not understanding the situation his father is in.

One day, at the guild, everyone was doing what they were usually doing. Macao and Wakaba chatted with each other, Droy was eating food, Bisca and Alzack had gone shopping with their daughter, Asuka, Vjeeter was doing lame, ridiculous dances again, Nab was in front of the Request Board, and everyone else was doing their own thing, except for Romeo, who was gone.

"Anything new?" asked Max, refering to the Request Board.

"Not much today, as usual. Nothing new is going to come in our little guild of ours," sighed Warren.

"Yeah! Look how few jobs we have!" added Nab.

"Says the guy who hasn't taken a job in the last six years!" pointed out Jet.

"Hey, look! I almost finished my new dance!" called Vjeeter, doing some weird movements. "It's called the 'Weird Dance!'"

"Yeah, whatever," said Max, not even paying attention.

"This is bad, really bad," muttered Macao, clutching his head as if he had a headache. "I still don't have enough money to pay for Twilight Ogre."

"What?! You still haven't paid them yet?!" shouted Wakaba.

"Hey, I'm trying, okay? We just need at least a few more members to join the guild! Oh, what's the point? It's not like some mage is just going to barge in, shout out their name, and declare that they want to be a Fairy Tail member!"

**BOOM! **The doors got knocked down, revealing a young boy with dark hair, blue eyes, and he wore a simple trademark cap, baggy pants, a indigo shirt, dark fingerless gloves, black shoes, and a long dark jacket that reached his knees with a collar.

"Hey, I'm Azure Fullbuster and I wanna join Fairy Tail!"

Silence. Nobody in the guild spoke a word, for they were shocked. They never expected THAT to happen.

"...What," said Warren, speaking up at last.

The boy named Azure didn't even seemed fazed by the silence. "I said-"

"No, no, we've got your name," assured Wakaba. "It's just...just hold on a moment, alright?" Quickly, he went to Macao and whispered in his ear, "How did this happen?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Then, what should we do with this kid?"

"Well, since I am Master, I guess we should let this kid join if he wants to-wait a minute." Macao turned to Azure, who was curiously looking around her surroundings like a little kid. "You said your name was...Fullbuster, correct?"

Azure paid attention and saluted happily. "Yup, sir! Azure Fullbuster, at your service!"

"Does that make you related to Gray Fullbuster?"

"Hmm...I'm not really sure," admitted Azure, pondering as she placed a hand under her chin. "I mean, I heard he was a powerful Ice Mage, but I never met him. He's one of the reasons why I decided to join the guild!"

_'No, no it can't be,' _thought Macao, wondering on the situation. _'Because Gray clearly stated that his parents died a long time ago, and that he idn't have any other sibilings. But, I'm pretty sure he's not lying, but maybe it was just a coincidence they have the same last name? Yeah, lots of people have the same last names.' _

While everyone was thinking of the same way, Wakaba asked, "What sort of magic do you use, Azure?"

"Oh! I can use the Water Dragon Slayer Magic! Pretty neat, huh?"

"EEEHHHHH?" Everyone immediantly backed into a corner and started to whisper to each other, making Azure tilt her head in confusion as she can sorta hear their conversation due to her sense of enhanced hearing.

"Another Dragon Slayer!" whispered Laki, excited.

"Just like Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel!" gasped Reedus.

"That's it! We should invite this kid in!" suggested Droy, eating a roasted turkey leg.

"I don't see why not," agreed Jet.

"Hey, are the kid and Gray related?" asked Max. "I mean, they do have the same last name after all."

"No, not possible," said Wakaba. "I mean, Gray did lose his parents when he was a little kid, and he would have mentioned any sibilings."

"Maybe I should read his mind to see if he's a good person," suggested Warren before placing two fingers to the temple of his head, concentrating on Azure's mind.

Azure, in the meantime, was humming a soft tune to himself and scraping the floor lightly with one foot, thinking the lyrics to himself. _'Twinkle, twinkle, little star! How I wonder what you are!~' _

Warren sweatdropped, wondering how a boy his age could still be singing such a lullaby. "...He's clear."

Everyone finally separated from one other to do their other duties as Macao and Wakaba walked up to the humming Azure, who stopped. "Alright, you can join Fairy Tail. We've been itching to get new members for a long time anyways."

"Wait, Macao. You forgot one more thing. The insignia, remember?"

"Oh, right! Kinana? Could you come here?"

"Coming!" An attractive, young lady wearing a light green dress and that has indigo colored hair rushed in, carrying a Magic Stamp Tool. "Hello, my name is Kinana. It's a pleasure to meet you, Azure!"

Azure nodded happily. "You too! You're beautiful, miss Kinana! I wish I could grow up and be beautiful like you!"

_'You're a guy! How is that even possible?!' _wondered some of the males in the guild.

"Can I have the blue stamp on my left hand?" requested Azure, taking off one of his fingerless gloves and presenting his hand to her. Kinana easily stamped Azure's hand with the color he wanted, thus making a official Fairy Tail member.

"Congratulations, you're one of us," said Wakaba, although not too confidently.

"Ah!" Azure snapped his fingers, realizing something. "There's someone else that was supposed to come with me!"

"Another one? I wonder who it is," said Laki out loud.

"Maybe it's a girl!" squealed Droy, excitedly.

"Aha! No, it's not a girl. He's a boy, but-"

"Honestly, Azure? You couldn't have waited for me? Well, this was to be expected, according to my calculations," sighed a voice that came from behind Azure. Everyone turned to see a small light blue cat that wore a Mitre with some sort of church insignia on it, Gale-Force Reading Glasses, a red scarf, a dark blue scarf, and he was carrying a book.

"A cat?!" exclaimed Jet, shocked. "Just like Happy, Carla, and Pantherlily!"

"Don't get me confused with those lot. I am the smartest Exceed of them all," said the Exceed arrogantly. "You may address me as Samuel."

"So now, you guys got two new members," said Azure, grinning as she bent down to pick up her Exceed in her arms. "Oh, and Samuel my partner!"

"It seems like every Dragon Slayer's got a cat partner," muttered Nab.

"Yes, I know," said Samuel, pushing up his glasses. "There's Natsu Dragoneel with Happy, Wendy Marvell with Carla, and finally, Gajeel Redfox with Pantherlily. Trust me, I know these things." He then pointed to Nab. "I know you are Nab Lasaro, a Mage specialized with a type of Seith magic, which is Animal Possession, and you have difficulties picking a job."

"Whoa How do you know that?"

"It's all over the Sorcerer Magazine, and due to my research." Samuel turns to Laki next. "You must be Laki Olietta, who expresses herself in many different, and unusual ways, and you use Wood-Make Magic." Next was Max. "You are Max Alors, a man capable of using Sand Magic."

Azure sighed, knowing this was going to take a while. "Samuel, I think they get it now."

"Very well. Now, can you please put me down, Azure?" After complying, Samuel turned around and lifted up his shirt a little, revealing his back. "Okay, can I have the Fairy Tail insignia at my back? Can it be white too?"

After the preparations were done, Azure raised her hand, gaining the Fairy Tail's master's attention. "Ooh! Ooh! Old Man master! I have a question!"

"Oi! I'm not that old!" cried out Macao, twitching his eye in frustration. "I'm the Master! Master Macao of Fairy Tail!"

"Hmm...okay, Old Man Master!"

"OLD MAN?!"

"So, anyways! How do you get jobs or requests from other people? I can't wait to get started!"

Kinana pointed to the Request Board, where Nab was, and the board was filled with very few requests. "There it is. You can get requests there, but unfortunately, there's only a few of them."

"Cool!" Azure skipped towards the Request Board, took one glance at it, and snatched a request from the board, holding it delicately. "Yay! A request! I choose you!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Max. "You just took one look, and you suddenly decided to choose that? Let me see that!"

"Huh? Okay."

After Max was handed the request Azure had chosen, he read it outloud, "'Anyone, there is a small group of very dangerous Vulcans living in the Hollow Caves where most of our food resides. Our village is in danger, and we plead for any help. Reward: 3,000 Jewels.'"

"Wait! Vulcans are really strong!" spoke Laki. "Are you sure you can handle this, Azure?"

"According to my calculations, the Vulcans are fiercesome creatures, but they are no match for me or Azure. There is a 99% of us winning," replied Samuel.

"Yeah! The Water Dragon Slayer and her Exceed will handle this!" replied Azure proudly.

"Wait, 'her?' But you're a guy," reminded Droy.

"Nope! I'm a girl."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...WHAT?!"

"Yup! See? Look!" Azure took off her trademark cap, and her medium-long, dark hair flowed down into her back, not too long, but not too short either. In fact, she looks more attractive and cuter this way, but if she kept the cap on and the hair hidden, anyone would have mistaken her as a girl.

"...That explains so much, and yet so little," said Nab.

"Well, we're going now! Bye!~" sang Azure, snatching the request from Max, placing her hair back onto the cap, and running off with Samuel.

After they were gone, the guild was still stunned that they just discovered a tomboyish, cheerful Dragon Slayer that turned out to be a girl that had no intention on tricking them.

Soon, Bisca and Alzack came back into the guild with their daughter, Asuka. "So, what did we miss?"

And it was another day for Fairy Tail.

* * *

** And with that, I'm done! Please read and review! Hope I did good!**


	2. Monster Hunting

**The newest chapter of Fairy Tail! Since you were all kind to me, I decided to reward you with a new chapter, though the new one after this will take a while.**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs!**

* * *

It's been a few days since Azure and Samuel joined Fairy Tail, and already, they became friends with everyone in the guild. Well, almost everyone. They weren't sure if Romeo considered them a friend, but he was still nice. Quiet, but nice. They were surprised when they found out Azure was the Water Dragon Slayer, and that Samuel was her Exceed partner, but that didn't affect their friendship, even if it reminded them of the three Dragon Slayers they once had.

Everyone knew Azure as the tomboyish, carefree girl that looked like a boy, and Samuel as the brains. Whenever Azure entered the guild doors, she always knocked down the doors, until Macao told her to stop because they cost money. Samuel sometimes drove everyone nuts by talking too much about his calculations. Other than that, everything was fine.

Ever since Azure and Samuel have been going out on requests, there has been rumors that Fairy Tail had a new member, aka Azure, and that she's been going on missions and is pretty tough. The other people shrugged it off, still thinking of Fairy Tail as the weakest guild ever.

One day, Kinana asked Azure, "Where do you live, Azure? I mean, if you're going to be a Fairy Tail member, you have to live somewhere."

"Yeah, come to think of it, we never did know where you and Samuel lived," said Wakaba.

"Well before, me and Samuel often camped out in forests a lot while traveling," explained Azure, leaning back against a chair. "Right now, we live in the woods with a small cabin we built. We don't have much supplies, and we want to live in an apartment. The only problem is the money. *sigh* If only there was more jobs with more money to pay the rent."

_'That sounds a lot like Lucy would say,' _everyone else thought sadly.

"What about this one?" suggested Laki, holding a request in her hands and handing it to Azure.

"Hmm...slay an indestructible Legion in Treeshroud Plains. The Legion appears at night from the sky, preying on anyone that comes near or in the plains. Please, help our people! Reward is 8,000 Jewels."

"What?! You can't take that job!" cried out Warren.

"And why not?" asked Azure, curious.

"Because, that's a Legion we're taking about! A rare beast! A-"

"Oh, please," sighed Samuel. "Due to my calculations, Azure can wipe out that Legion."

"Yeah, that's right!" said Azure, cracking her knuckles. "I'll easily take down that Legion like taking candy from a baby!"

"No way! As Master, I absolutely forbid you to do this request!" ordered Macao.

"..." Azure looked away and thought very carefully what to do. Suddenly, the doors slammed open, revealing some dangerous-looking guys wielding some weapons and wearing some cocky looks on their faces.

"Hey, I thought I told you not to come here anymore, Teebo!" shouted Macao angrily, refering to the man in the middle.

"We just came here for the payment," replied the man named Teebo.

"You didn't pay them, yet?" exclaimed Wakaba to Macao.

"Uh...what's going on?" asked Azure, confused along with Samuel.

"Oh yeah, we didn't tell you yet," said Jet. "You see those guys? They're from another guild somewhere around Magnolia, which is Twlight Ogre. They...helped us get the tavern which is the guild. In exchange, we have to pay them each month."

"That's right! So, where's the payment?" asked Teebo.

"We didn't get much work! Please, I'll pay you double next month!" begged Macao.

"...How much money does Twilight Ogre orders you to pay them?" asked Azure.

"About 150,000 Jewels. Why?" answered Droy.

"...How about this much?" asked Azure to Teebo, holding a bag of money in it from her bag. "It's got 7,000 Jewels in it. It's not much, but it's better than nothing, right?"

"What?" gasped Alzack, surprised at the generous act Azure was doing.

"What are you doing, Azure?" questioned Samuel, surprised.

"Heh, fine," agreed Teebo, swiping the bag. "We'll be expecting more money next month! Luckily for you guys, we won't destroy anything just this once, because we're in a good mood! If it weren't for this brat here, we would have destroyed things here, again! See you next month!"

And so, the Twilight Ogre guild members walked away, crackling in mad laughter and leaving the Fairy Tail guild alone.

"That was a bad move, Azure," scolded Samuel. "You just gave away all of the money we collected throughout the years to some low lives."

"Hey, it was my decision. It was the only way to get those morons out of there and not injure anyone," reasoned Azure. "What would you have done? Let them destroy the guild?"

"No, but I don't think giving them all our money was the wisest choice. Because of that, we have nothing to pay the rent for."

"Hey, Azure? Um...thanks for sticking up for us," thanked Nab.

"Yeah, if it weren't for you, someone would have gotten hurt really badly," agreed Laki.

"Nah, I would have done what anyone would have done," said Azure, giving a smug grin at Samuel, who huffed and looked away.

"Yes, thank you," Macao also thanked. "But, you only fended them off for one month. How are we supposed to get the payment in the next month? I wish I knew..."

"Well, just give me permission to do the request I wanted to do before," said Azure.

"Like, I said before, no. And that's final."

"But Master, think of it this way," Azure tried to convince. "If I go to more jobs and complete them, that means more money, which means you can pay those scumbags easily. In addition, it may raise Fairy Tail's status, even a little. Not a bad deal, right?"

"..." Macao thought carefully about this. Azure's reasoning was fair and an high advantage. In addition, Azure did say she was a Dragon Slayer, and they are hard to find these days. However, he was still suspicious of Azure. He didn't want another Magic Council member, like Doranbolt, to join Fairy Tail, even if they are too young. Plus, she didn't have proof that she was a Water Dragon Slayer.

"Come on, Macao! I think it's good," urged Wakaba.

"I told you to call me 'Master!'" reminded Macao. "Alright, you can take this request."

"Yay! But, if I give you the money, I want something in return!"

Macao rubbed his temples due to stress and frustration. There was also a price to pay, wasn't there? "What is it?" He silently pleaded to himself that it wouldn't be too much trouble.

Azure looked around and thought for a moment. "Ooh! Is there a spare room in the guild?"

"Um...well, there is, but it's too small, and no one's ever used it," replied Kinana, pointing to the top of the stairs where there was a door.

"Great! Okay, if I give you the money, I wanna stay in that room with Samuel!"

Macao blinked, surprised. "That's it? Just a room?"

"That's it!"

"Yes! Of course!" spoke up Wakaba, agreeing immediantly. "It's a deal!"

"Hey! I'm the one who makes the decisions!" argued Macao before turning to Azure. "But, you're right. Alright, I guess you can stay in the spare room."

"Yay!"

"However," started Macao in a serious tone. "I want to prove your loyalty to Fairy Tail, so, I want someone to be with you on this mission other than Samuel."

"So, who should I pair up with?" wondered Azure, thinking carefully. "Are you going to pick, Master?"

"No, I'll let you pick, just to be fair."

"Alright, Samuel? What would be best suited to pair up with me?"

"Hmm..." Samuel was searching through his notes in his book he always carries. "According to my calculations, the best person would have to be...Reedus."

"Huh? Alright then. Reedus, you're with me," said Azure.

"Oh, me? I don't know why, but okay."

"Well, with that said, me, Samuel, and Reedus are going now! Bye, guys!" sang Azure, taking the painter's arm and her Exceed before running off with them outside.

The first thing Reedus spotted was a gray colored motorcycle laying on the grass outside of the guild before it was picked up and positioned by Azure. "Is that a Magical Vehicle?" he asked, watching Azure strap an SE-Plug onto her wrist.

As soon as Azure put on her motorcycle helmet, she nodded. "Yup! Here, catch!" She tossed another motorcycle helmet to Reedus, who managed to catch it as Samuel held onto Azure's coat. "Hurry up and get in!"

"R-right!" After Reedus sat on the back seat and carefully wrapped his arms around her waist, Azure started the engines.

Samuel turned to Reedus and warned calmly, "You really want to hold on. Azure likes to go fast."

"Wait, WHAAAAAAAAAA-!" In a flash, Azure and her companions rode away from the guild and down a road, with Azure driving and careful not to hit people. Samuel had closed his eyes and was bracing for anything, as Reedus continued to scream.

* * *

_Later... _

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Reedus was still screaming ever since they started riding due to Azure's crazy riding and hasn't stopped since, until now.

When they finally stopped, Azure let out a sigh, her magic depleted. "Oh, looks like I'm outta magic. Well, I guess we could take a break."

Reedus tackled himself to the grass, embracing every ounce of green. "Oh! Oh! Soft, sweet grass! I love you so!"

_'Poor, poor guy,' _thought Samuel before resting underneath a shady tree and reading a nice book.

Azure sat down on the grass, right next to Reedus. "Here, I made these." She handed Reedus a canteen while she had one herself, and Samuel walked up to her to retrieve his before returning to his spot to read. "It's one of my special herbal teas. I may not look like it, but I'm a good cook."

"Oh, thank you, Azure," thanked Reedus, taking the canteen. He gulped down the liquid inside, and it tasted sweet. A bit sour, but sweet. "It's good!"

"See? I knew you'd like it," said Azure, smiling. "Hey, Reedus? Can I ask you a personal question? Well, not exactly personal, but you'll get what I mean in a second."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Um...I want you to tell me all you know about Gray Fullbuster! I don't know if we're related or not, but even so, I still want to know. Unless, you don't want to tell me?"

"...I'm sorry, I can't," apologized Reedus, his shoulders slumped. "It...brings up too many painful memories, but Gray is nice. I...I'm sorry. I'm cowardly, aren't I?"

"Hey, it's okay," assured Azure. "If you don't want to talk about it, I understand. I won't ask you about it anymore, I promise."

"Thank you..." sighed Reedus in relief.

Once they rested long enough, they got up and soon arrived at the village. When arriving, they were surprised to see wooden huts as the homes, and not homes made of bricks or other harden material. Wooden huts weren't usual in villages, so that's why they were surprised.

"Hello? We're from Fairy Tail and we'd like to talk to the chief please!" called Azure as loud as she could. The villagers stopped what they were doing to stare at the two intruders. Then, an old elderly man walked up towards them.

"I am the Chief of this village. Are you Fairy Tail?" asked the Chief.

"Yup! Here's the proof!" said Azure, taking off her glove and showing her left hand, revealing the Fairy Tail Guild stamp. Reedus also showed his stamp. (Actually, I have no idea where his is.)

"Hmm...very well. As the request had said before, the Legion comes out at night in Treeshoud Plains. It's a bit far from here, luckily. Just keep going on north, and you should realize the plains by then."

'Thank you, sir," thanked Reedus before they left.

* * *

_That night... _

"La la la la la!~" sang Azure, skipping ahead of both her male companions.

Reedus turned to Samuel awkwardly and whispered, "Hey, is she always like this?"

Samuel nodded, looking a bit exhausted. "Don't worry, you'll get used to this if you're around her long enough."

**BOOM! **A massive, swine-esque entity whose body was covered in smooth, dark fur, sharp teeth, large black horns, and jet-black wings landed on the ground with a large crash that shook the ground and some trees.

"There's a Legion! The target!" cried out Samuel, dropping his book. As soon as he did, his body glowed and began to grow taller and more muscular, making him look older as his wings spread out.

"W-whoa!" Reedus was stunned by Samuel's appeared, then realized they were preparing for battle, so he took out his paintbrush and colors. "I-I'll provide support from the back!"

"Alright, just attack when there's an opening!" ordered Samuel, sharpening his claws as they glinted in the moonlight.

Azure's eyes grew sharp like a hawk's, and her expression turned from excitement to serious. She took a deep breath before muttering in a quiet tone, "Water Dragon's Roar."

Once she let go of her breath, a small light ball of water showed up at the front of her mouth before turning it into an unstoppable stream of water towards the Legion. The Legion roared in pain once the magic spell attacked it, but stood its ground.

Azure knew that Legions are one of the rarest and toughest creatures in the world, so, she decided to use more force. "Water Dragon's Crushing Fang." Once she got close, her hands were coated with water, and she lashed out at the Legion, striking with her fingertips and leaving a wake of water as she did so. She did this several times before the Legion countered attacked with his head, knocking Azure back a little.

"Pict Magic: Nature, Run Wild!" As soon as he drew various, different colored boars, a variety of colored boars sprang from Reedus' stomach and tackled the Legion, causing a little bit of damage, but not enough to take it down.

As Azure regained herself, she knew that Legions were known for their flight, speed, and enormous strength, so this was going to be a little tough. The Legion charged towards her with unbelieveable speed, but charging forward was something Azure predicted, so she decided to do something about that.

"Water Dragon's Rush." Azure swiftly rushes to her left, avoiding the Legion and rushing towards a river, where her magic power would be amplified. She placed her hands into a nearby river, and yells, "Water Dragon's Geyser!"

**BAM! **The magical energy Azure poured flowed underground until it reached the Legion. Then, a large geyser appeared underneath the Legion, making it fly into the air. Then, the Legion flapped its wings and started flying away.

"Not so fast!" Samuel, who was in mid-air, flew towards the Legion, and as soon as he was close by, he started slashing the sides of the Legion swiftly, delivering multiple hits before his target flew to a different direction as soon as it could.

"Water Dragon's Tail Whip!" shouted Azure, splashing her hands with the river. Then, she extends the water using both her hands to create two tail-like whips, one for each hand. She lashed both water whips at the Legions, wrapping them around its wings and bringing it down just a little.

Reedus knew this was his chance, so as quickly as he could, he painted a picture of a cannon in his stomach. "Pict Magic: Cannon Fire!" The animated cannon fired several flaming cannonballs at the Legion, hitting its side so much it caused smoke to form around the monster.

But when the smoke vanished, the monster was still intacted, and Azure was struggling to keep it from flying away. Samuel flew up to the Legion once again and repeatedly slashed the sides, though it was once again, difficult.

"Pict Magic: Cannon Ice!" Hearing the sound of a cannon firing, Samuel flew out of the way and watched as a blue cannonball hit one of the wings of the Legion, freezing it, though not completely.

Seeing how one of the wings were frozen, Azure released her magic spell that was holding the Legion's wings, and since the Legion can't operate freely with one wing, it crashed down to the ground, causing a giant crater to form beneath it as it struggled to move.

"It's vulnerable! Attack!" ordered Samuel, springing down before swiping his claws and slashing at the sides once more.

"Pict Magic: Slashes!" After drawing slashes on his stomach, Reedus summoned white slash-like objects which hit the Legion's side.

As Azure rushed over to perform close combat, she unsheathed her curved dao sword from her scabbard that was attached to her back, preparing for battle. She leaped up and spung around, damaging the Legion as she danced around while slashing at the sides.

Once Samuel found the Legion's weak point, he shouted, "Azure! The weak point's on your right! Finish it off!"

Nodding, Azure lifted up her dao sword before bringing it down on the spot Samuel described. The Legion let out a roar of pain before crumpling to the ground, defeated.

Reedus sighed in relief, sitting down on the ground as he rested. He saw Azure approaching him, her expression hidden due to her cap. When she got there, her serious expression turned into a friendly smile and she raised up her hand, saying, "Hey, Reedus! We did it! Aren't we super strong now?"

"O-oui..."

"Since we worked together, I say we split up our reward!" said Azure, kneeling down in front of him. "What do you say? Wanna return to the village now?"

Reedus nodded, exhausted. The sooner they leave, the better!

* * *

_About a day later... _

"Hey guys! We're back!" called Azure, helping out a green-faced Reedus walk inside the guild before making him lay on a soft couch.

"What happened?" asked Macao, worried.

"Long story short. We found the village, fought the Legion, and we killed it. End of story. Oh, and we got the reward money," said Azure, holding up a bag of Jewels.

"I knew she could do it," said Samuel, unimpressed. "All thanks to my calculations."

"Ooh...note to self...never eat anything before riding in a highly dangerous anf fast vehicle," groaned Reedus as Kinana was taking care of him.

Azure yawned, tired because she and Samuel didn't get a wink of sleep yesterday. "I'm going to bed early. Wake me up tommorow, alright?"

"Alright then," sighed Macao. "But there are some conditions if you're going to live here. First, no breaking anything, no staying up late, no leaving dirty tracks, and you have to help clean up the place."

"Yikes, and I thought I'd have to avoid the clean up condition," sighed Azure as she and Samuel tiredily started walking up the stairs. "Fine, it's a done deal."

"So, how were they?" Wakaba asked Reedus, who was starting to feel a bit better due to the flu medicine Kinana gave him.

"Let's just say...I'm never riding with her ever again."

* * *

**Hope: I know. I probably got some of these characters OOC, but I can't figure out much about them. The dao sword I got the idea from Zuko from Avatar, and used one of the swords he used. Anyways, read and review, and please, someone, give me some ideas!**


	3. Winter's Warmth

**One more thing before we start this chapter! Samuel is actually an Exceed from the anime, and I just took him because nobody was using him in the manga, so I thought, 'Why not have him be Azure's Exceed?' With that said, here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs!**

* * *

About three months has passed since Azure and Samuel have joined Fairy Tail, but Fairy Tail's reputation only increased by about 2%, due to it still being called the weakest guild in all of Fiore. The only rumor it had was that a few new members joined, but that was it, and the few new members were just Azure and Samuel, no one else.

Despite that, a few new requests were posted every now and then, and some of the guild members other than our favorite dragonslayer and her Exceed accepted some of them, including Nab, and he had trouble trying to pick requests before. Of course, there was still the money trouble with the guild, Twilight Ogre. Sure Azure and Samuel volunteered to help pay the taxes, but they didn't gain enough to pay each and every month. As a result, destroying things in the guild as Twilight Ogre's payment. As much as Azure wanted to 'smack their faces and kick their asses,' she was forbidden to do so by Macao. Since he is the Guildmaster, she had to obey.

Samuel gained a bit of knowledge and wrote them down while doing requests either by himself, with Azure, or with someone else, which was rare since he constantly travels with Azure. Everyone in the guild knew that Samuel was the know-it-all in the guild and quickly accepted the fact, but were always annoyed when he gave away long lectures or explanations on things.

Azure was still trying to find clues about her parents and if Gray Fullbuster was actually her brother. Some of the guild members tried to help once, but no success. She refused to talk about her parents, and she still couldn't find clues for Gray Fullbuster. Once, Laki asked what sort of dragon parent did Azure had, and she replied that her adoptive parent is too carefree, cocky, annoys her a lot, and sometimes a bit perverted, making everyone wonder if she got those traits from her adoptive parent.

Azure and Samuel happily slept in one of the guild rooms, though it was small. Even so, they didn't mind, as long as they had a place to sleep. Turns out that Azure never really did like cleaning, but she had to do it to fufill the condition of living in the guild. Samuel filled their room with history books so that he and Azure could learn from them, and no matter how much they cleaned their room, it only became messier and messier. The messiest room was Azure and Samuel's room, and it was a wonder where they put more books in the small room.

One day at the guild, Max, Droy, Jet, Nab, and Warren were all crowded in front of the Request Board, trying to pick out the very few requests on the board, which were like, five. Wakaba and Macao went out shopping with Kinana, and Bisca and Alzack went to spent time with their daughter.

"...Alright! Me and Droy are going to take this one!" decided Jet, snatching a request from the board.

"Hmm...that seems to be a hard request," Droy said after reading it. "But it's better than nothing."

"Hey, has anyone seen Azure and Samuel?" asked Warren.

"Wait, she was just here a moment ago," Laki spoke up.

Suddenly, the doors to the guild opened and revealed Azure with Samuel. "Hey, guys! I'm back!"

"Where were you?" asked Nab.

"It was getting kinda hot in the guild, so I took a short walk with Samuel. Hey, did the new requests come out?" asked Azure, walking towards the Request Board. She took one good look at them before snatching one. "I'm taking this one!"

Nab looked over her shoulder and read it outloud, "'My little boy has caught a rare illness and is close to death real quickly. The only ingredient left to make the cure is from a red lily flower that's heavily guarded by a large and strong plant monsters called Frost Ivy, which are resistant to the cold. They're located in Tundra Forest, so please come to Tundra Village when you're finished. Reward: 300 Gald and the recipe for my special strawberry cream.'"

"Yup! I decided on that!"

"Uh...you do know the request takes place in a cold place, right?" reminded Max. "I don't do cold places."

"Same here," both Droy and Jet spoke in unison, raising up their palms.

"Hmmm...Nab! Do you wanna go on the quest with me and Samuel?" asked Azure cheerfully.

"Sorry, but I perfer solo missions."

"Despite the fact that you never pick a job?" mumbled Warren, crossing his arms.

"Then, do you want to go with me and Samuel then, Warren?" Azure reverted to Warren, smiling.

"Well...I guess I have nothing better to do, and we do need the money, so alright. But, just in case, let's bring one more member. Who knows, it could be dangerous."

Azure looked around the guild, trying to find the next perfect party member. Max, Droy, and Jet were out because they hated cold places and she didn't want to force them, and Nab perferred solo missions, and the others were busy, so...

"Vijeeter!" called out Azure, waving to the older man who was busy dancing. "Wanna go to a mission with us? You might be able to find some sort of new dance in some sort of snowy place!"

Her words inspired the dancer as he danced his way to the group. "Oh yeah! I love it! Let's do it!"

Warren sighed, rubbing his temple. "This is gonna take a while..."

* * *

_A day later... _

"Why did we agree to bring him along?" complained Warren, addressing to Vijeeter who was dance walking as they explored the snowy forest. The four of them wore winter clothing to keep themselves warm, and it took them a day to arrive at the Tundra Forest because Azure's motorcycle was broken and being repaired.

"Well, everyone else had reasons not to go, so the only available person was him!" replied Azure, grinning. "I can't wait to see what kind of Magic you and Vijeeter have!"

Samuel's stomach started growling loudly, and he sighed, being hungry. "Wait. Can we take a lunch break?"

"I guess so. I am kinda hungry myself," admitted Warren, his stomach growling lightly. Before they had left, Azure had prepared some hot food for the four of them just in case they got hungry, and placed them in her backpack.

"Alright! Let's eat!" announced Azure, after placing a picnic blanket on the soft snow and putting the food on top of it. The four of them enjoyed a hot lunch of rice balls, tea, and sausages as they chatted about fun activities.

Vijeeter was the first to finish eating, and backed away before proclaiming, "Oi! Check out my new dance I just invented! It's called, 'The Snow Dance!'" He began to twirl around in the snow and making some weird dance forms before finishing with a pose with one foot off the ground.

"Uh..." Apparently, Warren and Samuel had no comment.

Suddenly, Azure started clapping and giggling happily, enjoying the dance. "That was so cool, Vijeeter! I love it!"

"Really?!" exclaimed Vijeeter in a happy mood.

"Wait, what?!" Someone actually complimented on Vijeeter's poor dancing skills for once?! Just to be sure, Warren used his Telepathy Magic to check on Azure's mind, even though it was supposed to be private.

_'Yeah, that was so cool! I wonder if Vijeeter will teach me that? Nah, I can't ask him! Like they say, a magician always keeps his secrets, or in this case, a dancer!' _

_'Looks like she's not lying,' _wondered Warren, sweatdropping at the young girl's excitement.

Meanwhile, Samuel had flown up to the skies for two reasons. One, to avoid the conversation about the dancing, and two, to inspect the area in case any dangers were up ahead. To his surprise, he spotted large, white herbivores not too far away, protecting some sort of red flower.

Samuel flew back to the group and announced, "I found where the flower is. It's not too far from here, but like the request said, it is guarded by the plant monsters."

"Don't worry! I can easily beat them up with my water magic!" assured Azure, throwing fists in front of her to pump herself up.

"You do realize that plants love water, right?" Warren reminded. "Well, we should get going. I don't want to stay in the cold any longer."

"Oi! I just made up a new dance! 'The Snow Dance 2!''

"Nobody wants to see your dance, Vijeeter!"

"That;s rude, Warren! I wanna!"

"I'm surrounded by children..."

"I'm older than you, Samuel! And quit dancing, Vijeeter!"

After Warren managed to get Vijeeter to stop dancing for a while, much to Azure's dislike, they continued walking to their destination. Curious, Warren asked Azure, "Hey, can I ask you something? Why did you want to take the job?"

"Hmm? Because it was a request, obviously!" said Azure, looking at Warren like he was stupid. "An easy one at that!"

_'Easy?! You have to get a flower being protected by powerful monsters! How is that easy?' _Warren wanted to exclaim. "Well, what about the reward? I'm not trying to be greedy, but we have a debt to pay, and the reward is...well, low. Are you sure you wanted to pick that job?"

"Yup! I don't blame you for worrying about the money problems, Warren, but I actually have another reason for picking the job."

"That's a first," admitted Samuel, looking up from his book. "Normally, you would just take random jobs without question."

"Yeah, but this one's kinda special."

"How?"

"You see..."

* * *

_Flashback... _

_"Water Dragon's Claw!" A six year old Azure slashed at her foster parent, Nereus, who easily blocked the weak attack with his arm. He frowned, wondering why Azure's technique was much weaker than before. In fact, why were all of her attacks unusually weak today?_

_"Hold on, time out, kiddo." Azure, who was charging towards Nereus, screeched to a stop, panting heavily. Gently, Nereus lifted up one of his fingers and felt Azure's forehead, which was extremely hot. However, it was not due to stress from training, but from a fever. "Idiot! Why didn't you tell me you had a fever!"_

_Azure waited until she regained her breath, then, putting her hands on her hips, she answered, "Because I totally wanna be strong like you, Nereus! A stupid fever won't-" _

_Suddenly, she stumbled back, her headache aching like crazy and her vision darkening until everything went back._

_"...Nnngh..." Blinking her eyes, Azure found herself in the small leaf bed she had personally made while living with Nereus. _

_"Chibi, you awake?" Azure turned her head to see Nereus, holding a small cup of water with some sort of plant on top of it. "Idiot, you fainted on me."_

_"Eh?" Azure yawned and sat up before taking the drink Nereus had. "Thank you." After drinking it, she felt a bit better, and while she had slept, her fever decreased dramatically. "Oh, wait! We have to train and-!"_

_"Hold it, flatty. You're not fit to-"_

_"Stop calling me flatty, old man!"_

_"Oi! I'm not an old man!"_

_"Baka!"_

_"Brat!"_

_"Punk!" _

_"Idiot!"_

_"Old geezer!" _

* * *

"...And, yeah. That's it!"

Warren and Samuel sweatdropped while Vijeeter was performing one of his dances, but the three of them knew what Azure's point was. She didn't care about the reward, but more about the safety of the sick boy described in the request, and how she was once in his shoes.

"We're here," announced Samuel, coming to a stop. Everyone looked up and saw two large white plant monsters with large leaves and huge jaws like Venus Traps. When the monsters spotted the group, they took the first initiative and their vines extended towards them.

"Spread!" commanded Warren, jumping out of the way. Samuel had flown away in time, and Vijeeter and Azure somersaulted out of the way before the four of them prepared for battle.

It didn't take long for Samuel to transform into Battle Form as soon as the battle started. "Warren, provide information or warn us with your Telepathy Magic! Vjeeter, be the bait! Azure, you and I attack!"

"On it!" both Warren and Vijeeter agreed as Azure nodded curtly. Vijeeter ran forward first, easily dodging the plant monsters' whip wines with his Dancer Magic, allowing him to increase his fighting capacities along with his allies. In addition, it also decreases his opponents' capacities, such as the plant monsters.

As the plants were focusing their attention on the acrobatic mage, Azure rushed past Vijeeter and sliced the vines with her dao sword. In the meantime, Samuel remained in the air and fired beams from his claws, attacking from an aerial position.

Then, one of the plant monsters managed to catch Vijeeter by tangling its vine around its leg, soon making him dangle mid-air, above the jaws of a very hungry plant monster.

_'Damnit! Samuel, you think you can catch Vijeeter?' _thought Warren, still using his Telepathy Magic to communicate with his allies.

Samuel nodded and turned to Azure, who had just finished off a plant monster, who was left with various cuts and pieces of itself. "Azure! Cut the vine!" Azure turned, seeing Vijeeter about to be eaten by a plant monster. She nodded, understanding her Exceed's intent before throwing her dao sword like a boomerang, which sliced the vine holding the dancing mage before the weapon fell to the ground.

As Vijeeter was screaming and falling, Samuel swooped by and caught him in time before landing to the ground, placing him back. Afterwards, Samuel flew back up, delivering slashes from his claws from bottom to top of the plant monster before finishing it off with his claw beams, tearing the stem apart.

After sheathing her blade, Azure ran towards the red lily flower, plucking it from the ground as gently as she could while holding the fragile flower in her hands tenderly. "We got it!" she cheered, raising the flower high in the air.

"Careful with that thing! Flowers are easily delicate!" cried out Warren.

"Yeah! This calls for my 'Celebration Dance!'" cheered Vijeeter, starting to do his weird dances again.

"Gah! Enough of the dances!"

"Oh, you're no fun, Warren!" pouted Azure, putting her hands on her hips after handing the flower to Samuel. "We got the flower, so it's alright to celebrate!" With that said, she tried to mimick Vijeeter's movements as much as she could.

"Not you too!"

* * *

_A few days later... _

"I told you you should have worn warmer clothing," said Samuel, reading a book and sitting in a stool besides Vijeeter's bed as the owner of the bed coughed and was covered in blankets, obviously having a cold.

"T-Time to do my new dance...'The Sick Dance...'" moaned Vijeeter, starting to move around in his bed. However, he didn't really dance much due to him being sick.

"You're still dancing even while sick? You must really want to be a dancer that badly."

"Vijeeter! We're here!" announced Azure as she and Warren entered his room while carrying a pot of some sort of pink soup that was steaming.

Samuel felt a bit uneased when Azure presented the weird-looking soup to Vijeeter. Sure, Azure was a good cook, but whenever she cooked something new, it would be bad or something really weird that caused some effects on your body. "Uh...Azure? Are you sure that soup's okay?"

Warren was scooping up loads of the pink soup into four small bowls, one for each of them. "Yeah, I taste tested them, and the soup's safe."

After each of them were handed their own bowls of soup, Vijeeter sniffed the soup before coughing elsewhere. "It smells like strawberries."

Azure smiled. "Of course! I got the strawberry recipe from the reward from our last request! Dig in!"

Cautiously, Samuel took a small sip of the soup, finding it hot, but sweet as well. "It's...actually good!"

The others took sips of their soup and found it tasty as well before finishing the rest, enjoying each other company as they await the recovery of their sick dancing friend.

* * *

**Well? Wasn't the chapter heart-warming? If you've got ideas for Fairy Tail requests on the request board, I'm all ears! Read and review!**


	4. Cold Trust

**Hey, guys! Nice weather we're having! Here's a bit of Romeo x Azure! Cuteness!~**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs!**

* * *

Azure was frustrated. Frustrated because she couldn't get a certain fire mage to smile, even once! Tha certain fire mage was Romeo Conbolt, the Master's son, who was the same age as her. The first time she met him was a few days after she joined Fairy Tail, and she was surprised when Romeo ignored her just because she said she was a dragon slayer

Therefore, whenever she saw him, she'd try to make friends with Romeo and try to get him to smile, even though everyone told her he hasn't smiled for six years straight. Romeo would normally give a grunt, or have a small talk with her, mostly with him going silent. And he wouldn't even call her by her first name, but usually by other nicknames.

Today, Samuel was off on a mission with Jet and Droy, so Azure didn't have her usual partner with her. Everyone was off in missions, or doing something else. The only people here are Romeo, herself, Wakaba, Macao, and Kinana.

Azure was at the request board, trying to pick out a suitable request. Romeo walked next to her, also trying to pick out a request. Finally, they decided one for themselves and reached out to grab it, only to realize they were holding the same request.

A vein appeared on Azure's forehead as she smiled and held onto the request. "Now Romeo, I'm the older and taller one here, so I should take the request," said Azure kindly.

"No. The one who touched the request deserves it, and that's me," said Romeo, a blank expression on his face. "Just pick another one, flatchest."

"I should be saying the same thing to you!" argued Azure, her eye twitching. While it is true that she has a flat chest, she obviously didn't like to be called that, especially the one who says it mostly to her.

"Do you even know what kind of request it is?"

"To be honest, no. I just grabbed it-"

"See? You weren't thinking straight. Now, give it to me," ordered Romeo, yanking on the piece of paper.

"Well, excuse me!" grunted Azure, pulling on the piece of paper, careful not to rip it. "And anyways, it says, 'Please help defeat a large group of bandits that have taken over our sacred temple! Reward: 5,000 Jewels!'"

"See? Now, give it to me!"

"You're the stupid one! YOU give it to me!"

"That's enough! Please, stop!" pleaded Kinana, rushing towards the two and carefully taking the request out of their hands. "I don't want to resort to violence, but if you two keep this up, I may as well rip up this request and be done with it."

"What?! No!" cried Azure.

"The loudmouth started it," said Romeo, looking bored.

_'Any more insults, and he's going to get it! And I don't care if he's Master's son or not!' _thought Azure, having a sudden urge to go and strangle Romeo.

"But, in order to resolve this, we need enough money to pay for Twilight Ogre this month, and this might do it. So, you two have to work together, at least this once on this mission, understand? It's for the good of the guild," said Kinana, kindly.

"Fine! Just this once, okay?" agreed Azure.

"Agreed. Just this once," said Romeo, taking the request from Kinana. "We'll leave right away."

"Wait! I have to talk to Azure for a moment," called Macao.

"Romeo, just wait outside for me, and don't you dare leave without me. I have a motorcycle so many times faster than you, and I'm not afraid to use it!" warned Azure.

"Fine." With that said, Romeo walked out of the doors of the guild.

"So Master, what did you need to talk to me about?" asked Azure, walking towards him and Wakaba.

Macao sighed before getting serious. "It's about Romeo. I know we told you that since 6 years ago, Romeo had not smiled even once. He's still nice, but he's quiet, and doesn't even talk to me anymore. I was wondering that if you could change his attitude, even a little, I'd be grateful."

"So, you're telling me to make Romeo...nice?"

"Well, in a way, yes."

"Then, no."

"Whew, thank you so-wait, what?"

"I said, no. I refuse to accept that," said Azure, with a smile on her face.

"W-why?" asked Wakaba, shocked. He and Macao thought that since Azure was the always cheerful girl, she would accept anything that Macao asked that wouldn't prove difficult to her. Yet, why did she refuse this simple request?

"Wanna know why? It's because you asked me to. If I merely become friends with Romeo just because you told me to, that wouldn't be a good reason. Instead, Romeo would be heartbroken and even more bitter than the jerk already is. So, don't ask me to become friends with him just because you asked me to. I'll become friends with him when I want to, and the day we become friends is the day he acknowledges me as a friend. I would accept him as a friend, but for now, we're guildmates."

Macao understood what she meant and nodded. It's true that what he said was a simple request, but the result would be fatal for Romeo. He would hate his father even more than he already did, and he might not have any friends anymore.

"So, with that said, I'm leaving! See ya!" cheered Azure before running outside. When she got out, she saw Romeo sitting near a pond, looking at his own reflection. "Romeo! Time to go!"

Romeo nodded before following her to the motorcycle, getting on the back after Azure sat on the front. He was hesitant to wrap his arms around Azure's waist, because she is a girl, and he is a boy.

"Hey, hurry up and wrap your arms around my waist, because I'm going to go as fast as I can," warned Azure, impatient. After that warning, Romeo wrapped his arms around Azure's waist as tightly as he could, careful not to hurt here. After that, Azure rode off in a speed that's probably more than two times faster than Jet's speed.

* * *

_At Aurun... _

"I think we're here!" said Azure cheerfully when they arrived at a village. Romeo felt incredibly dizzy after that ride, but he refused to show it, especially in front of her.

"Great...now we just have to find the requester," reminded Romeo, feeling like he could throw up. "Remember, it's the mayor."

"Yeah, yeah! I got it!" said Azure. "Let's just go ask some people where the mayor's house is."

After a while, they finally located the mayor's house, and she invited them inside her house and gave them some tea. "Thank you for coming, Fairy Tail," thanked the female mayor as Azure and Romeo were sipping their tea. "I am the mayor of Aurun. Right now, we have a dire situation at our hands. As I have mentioned in the request, a group of bandits have taken over our sacred temple and used it as some sort of hideout."

"How long was this?" asked Romeo, putting down his tea cup.

"Just recently. I want you two to go to the castle and drive out the bandits no matter what."

"Well, don't worry! We'll defeat those two beasts!" assured Azure, standing up. "Romeo, let's go!" Once outside, Azure and Romeo had to ride Azure's motorcycle again, much to Romeo's displeasure. Immediantly, Azure rode much faster than she did before, towards the entrance of a forest, dodging branches and rocks as she rode.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted Romeo, holding tightly to Azure.

"I'm riding as fast as I can! The faster we do this, the faster we get back home!" cheered Azure, dodging another branch.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!"

"Yes! I told you, I'm a Dragon Slayer! And the scent's getting closer!"

In just a few minutes, Azure screeched to a stop, meaning that the two have arrived. Romeo got off the motorcycle quickly and looked around to see a large temple building with glass windows and very tall, large doors.

"Alright! Let's do this!" announced Azure. "I've got plenty of magic power left, so we should be alright! HEY, YOU TWO BASTARDS! COME DOWN AND FIGHT ME LIKE MEN!"

"Hey! Are you trying to get us killed?!" hissed Romeo.

"No, I'm trying to get them to fight us so that we can beat them up! Then, the village will be safe!" said Azure, happily. "Hmm...maybe they aren't coming out. We should go inside!"

"No," said Romeo. 'I think it's a trap. I say, we wait here."

"Well, we can't wait any longer! Besides, I-"

"Look, I get it, okay?! You're a freakin' Dragon Slayer! I know that! So, stop pointing it out!"

"I'm pointing it out because I want you to understand, you little jerk,' scolded Azure, placing her hands on her hips. "Jeez, can't I ask what's wrong with you? Ever since I came to Fairy Tail, you've been giving me the cold shoulder. Look, I'm sorry if I did anything bad to you, but what is it that I pissed you off for?"

"You!" shouted Romeo, making Azure flinch. "You being a Dragon Slayer! That's what! Also, the fact that you kept looking for that one person that you might consider as a brother! Can't you just let it go?! Natsu-nii, Gray-nii, and the others are already dead! Over and done in the past! This is the present, so why can't you accept that?"

"I do," said Azure, still looking nice and not a speck of anger in her face.

"Liar! Shut up!" shouted Romeo, covering his ears. "Just shut up! I'm going to defeat those bandits without your help! Just leave me alone!"

Romeo ran as fast as he could inside the temple, too angry to listen to Azure's protests and away from her. He was just sick and tired of the new girl, who was always so cheerful and carefree. Heck, she probably never even noticed the slight depression she caused for the guild, even if unintentionally.

"Romeo! Hold on!" called Azure, reaching out for him, but he was too far away to hear her, or he simply ignored her. Despite the fact that she was putting up a strong face, she was offended by what he said, but decided to ignore her feelings and chase after him.

* * *

_Inside... _

"Man, who does she think she is, acting like she knows everything," grumbled Romeo as he ran inside. It wasn't that dark inside, since the glass windows were showing enough light for Romeo to see through the dark. So far, he hasn't encountered any of the bandits, but he did hear some weird sounds.

"Romeo, wait!" called Azure. Of course, Romeo ignored her for about the tenth time. He knew she was following behind, but he didn't respond to her as he kept walking. Azure was really finding Romeo as annoying, but kept chasing after him regardless. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"None of your business, flatchest!"

"Gh-!" Azure felt a tick mark form on her forehead, but remained calm as she followed Romeo from behind. Though it was very quiet, Azure heard a small rock move from the left corner and the sound of a gun clicking.

"WATCH OUT!"

**BANG! BANG! **It was only about a few seconds, but Romeo remembered exactly what happened. A man came out with a gun and fired some sort of Guns Magic at him, and he would have been dead if it weren't for Azure. Azure tackled him to the ground and saved his life, but for a price. She got shot in the arm, which was badly crooked, before she fired some sort of water spell at the shooter, which knocked him out.

Romeo sat up and glanced at Azure, who was clutching her bleeding and twisted arm. "Hey! Are you okay?!"

Azure grunted from the pain, then, with one hand, took off her jacket as fast as she could, and tied the jacket around her injured arm with her mouth and free hand. "N-never mind me! We gotta move, quick!"

"Why?"

"Hurry up!" barked Azure, standing up and giving Romeo a glance, who was startled by her outburst and her sharp, hawk-like eyes. He stood up and nodded, running as he followed Azure to wherever she was running to. She spotted another corner nearby before running there and opening a door that lead to a closet. "In here!"

Before Romeo could protest, he could hear voices getting louder. "Intruders nearby!"

"Where?!"

"Maybe this way!"

Azure grabbed Romeo's wrist and pulled him inside before quietly closing the door as the footsteps and voices faded away. The closet both of them were in was too small and too dark, making the two of them huddle close to each other.

Romeo, realizing that he was in a closet with a person with the opposite gender, his face felt heat and he scrambled to get away from Azure other than the door. While panicking, he had bumped into a figure, most likely Azure, and felt something flat, yet soft and flesh with his bare hands.

"What's-"

"Shh." Azure's hiss interrupted Romeo before he could finish.

"But-"

"Shh."

A few minutes passed, and thinking that it was alright, Azure cautiously twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, light flooding into the darkness of the closet and filling it up. Romeo glanced at what he was touching and saw his hands pressed against Azure's flat chest.

"G-gah!" A red-faced Romeo quickly backed away from the older girl and turned around, crossing his arms and trying to forget what just happened.

Azure, who's sharp, serious eyes have turned back to their normal, cheerful look, looked at Romeo curiously, pressing a finger to her lips in a cute way. "What's wrong, Romeo? We managed to escape the bad people, so why are you so red-faced? Are you sick?"

"No! I-it's nothing!" There was no way Romeo was ever going to tell anyone, especially his old man, what he had accidentally done. That was going to be a secret to the grave for him! "Let's just hurry up and go-!"

"Hold it," said Azure, grabbing him by the back of his yellow scarf. "Last time we charged in, we got ambushed instead! So, we do this stealth style!"

"Uh...what?"

"Stealth style! Meaning, we go really fast but being quiet at the same time! Pretty neat, huh?"

Romeo only frowned, facing her. "Knowing you, that's not going to work."

* * *

_Later... _

"...Looks like the intruders escaped," spoke one of the bandits, speaking to a group of other bandits in a large room.

_'I can't believe her stupid plan actually worked!' _thought Romeo, shocked as he turned to see Azure, who was listening to the bandit's conversation. Azure's plan was risky and dangerous, but after knocking out a few bandits and hiding a few times, both Fairy Tail members found themselves on top of a wooden railing, glancing down at the group of bandits while they were having some sort of meeting.

"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" a bandit said. "I mean, that village always sends some sort of team to try and get us to leave, but they failed, just like they do in life."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we go and ransack that place already? It's starting to annoy me."

"Alright then! Tommorow, how about we go on ahead?"

"Those bastards..." cursed Romeo under his breath, clutching the wooden pillar he was gripping very tightly. He noticed Azure standing up suddenly and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Water Dragon's Roar!" Letting out a large stream of water, Azure took out a large number of the bandits with that spell, but there were still more bandits in the large meeting area. In fact, due to the unexpected ambush, the bandits glanced upwards to see two Fairy Tail wizards up in the railings.

"Up there!"

"Just two kids?!"

"We can take them!"

"Nice!" Romeo shouted to Azure sarcastically. "Now thanks to you, they-" Before he could finish, Azure had leaped down onto the drenched ground filled with unconscious bandits, where her feet made wet, splattering sounds from the small puddles.

"Hey, hey, what's that boy doing?"

"Is he asking for it?"

Azure ignored all of the bandits whispering and smiled cheerfully. "Hi! Sorry for knocking out some of your friends, but I ask you bandits something?"

_'Idiot! What's she thinking?! If I don't help her soon, she's in for it!' _Romeo thought, thinking how much of an idiot Azure was standing out to be.

"Huh?" asked one of the bandits. Romeo's fist was engulfed in a red flaming fire, just in case trouble happened.

"Yeah! So...would you please leave this temple and surrender?" asked Azure politely. "I mean, the townspeople really need this sacred temple badly! If you don't, me and my partner will be forced to beat up all of you, so... Okay?"

Romeo seriously wanted to facepalm as soon as the bandits started laughing at the chirpy girl. One of them walked up to her with a cocky expression on his face. "Evacuate us, huh? And how exactly are you gonna do that, little boy? There's so many of us vs the two of you!"

"Hmm...Are you sure you won't reconsider?" asked Azure. "This is your last chance, you know!~ Please evacuate and avoid damage or me and my friend will be forced to attack you!~"

"I'd like to see you try, girlie!"

"Okay! Don't say I didn't warn ya!~" In a flash, a fist was buried deep into the bandit's stomach, the fist belonging to the tomboyish girl who had a cold and emotionless expression on her face. She stepsided as the bandit's body fell to the ground, unconscious.

Shocked, Romeo noticed the tension rising in the room and leaped from his position, landing next to Azure. He stood back-to-back to her, cletching his teeth as he prepared to face a lot of bandits in the room.

The bandits were only stunned momentarily before taking out their weapons, enraged. "Why you little-!" One of them wielding a heavy halberd charged towards Azure and swung downwards as Romeo readied for a fire defense.

Widening her eyes for an instant, Azure waited until the halberd was swung down, then performed a swift roundhouse kick at the wielder's face, making him collapse on his back and drop the halberd.

Romeo heard a man yelling as he charged forward from behind, so, the Fairy Tail fire mage crotched down and legsweeped the fellow with a fiery kick before delivering a fist full of red fire to his stomach, knocking him out. He got up and rushed towards a few other bandits, purple flames being produced in his palms.

Meanwhile, Azure was still fighting on her own, dodging slow, strong blows with ease before leaping up to do a somersault and resulting with her kicking a man's face in. Afterwards, she used his face as launching to get to another bandit before punching his face with her free hand, seeing how her other hand was too injured to move.

With a cry, Romeo started firing blue fireballs at other bandits, and he managed to hit a few so far, but he had to hide behind a pillar fro protection because some other bandits were using Guns Magic to corner him. _'Damnit! Just need to hit a few of them!' _thought Romeo, clutching his fistful of blue fire.

He heard fast footsteps getting closer, then tilted his head to his right to see Azure rushing towards the bandits firing Guns Magic, her free hand wielding her dao sword. By the time the bandits noticed Azure, it was too late. She had begun to slice up their guns before proceeding to beat them up with her martial arts.

Seeing his chance, Romeo joined in as well, his flame-like fists providing as increasing attacks as he and Azure beat down the rest of the bandits. In several minutes, they managed to defeat all of the bandits but one, who was in a corner, cowering in fear.

Azure silently approached the last bandit, sheathing her dao sword back into its scabbard. When she appeared in front of the fearful bandit, she asked, "Will you surrender now?"

The bandit nodded, dropping his weapons and getting on his knees. "I-I surrender!"

Romeo let out a small sigh of relief, exhausted due to the outcome of the harsh battle he and his partner had battled. He had to admit, she was extremely good at fighting like she said, but, when he saw her eyes in battle, they were cold and serious, unlike her child-like ones.

After tying up all of the defeated bandits, both Fairy Tail wizards waited until the villagers took them to jail, where they would stay there for a long time. After receiving their reward, Romeo glanced at Azure's arm, who had been re-bandaged.

"Oi, usagi."

"Hmm?" Azure turned to Romeo at the mention of her common nickname.

"What are you going to do about your arm? It's injured now, isn't it?"

"Aww!~ Are you secretly worried about me?~" teased Azure, giggling.

Romeo turned away, pouting. "N-No! It's just that you need both arms to drive that crazy motorcycle of yours, and I don't want any difficulties!"

"Well, if there's a lake or river nearby, I might be able to do something with my injury," said Azure, pondering on it. It didn't take long for them to spot a small stream ahead. "Ah! There it is!"

The fire mage watched as Azure ran towards the stream, unwrapping her bandages on her arm before bending down and placing her arm under the cold stream. Suddenly, a faint blue light glowed on her injury, and seconds later, the injury closed up like it was never there.

When Azure returned to Romeo, he stammered, "H-how did you...?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's easy! As a Water Dr-oh! Er...sorry." Azure quickly apologized, remembering that her bragging of being a Dragon Slayer had already ticked off Romeo. She didn't want him upset again. "As part of my Magic, I can use only a little bit of supporting magic. I only know a few, though, due to my idiotic Dad only teaching me more about offensive spells."

"Wait a minute," started Romeo. "If you could use healing magic, why didn't you do it back at the temple?"

"Well, my Magic has...limitations. As long as there's water, I can heal myself, but it requires a large amount of water, and back at the temple, there weren't much water particles in the air."

"Gh-!" Romeo let out a small gasp, winching from the scratch he received from the battle earlier.

Azure grew concerned, drenched her hand with water before placing it on Romeo's wound, instantly healing his scratch. "There! All done!"

"..." Romeo turned away, thankful, but a little upset. The magic Azure described reminded him of Wendy's healing magic, but Azure wasn't Wendy. She never was from the beginning.

* * *

While Azure riding in a fast, but normal pace back to the guild, Romeo said quietly, "Hey, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"...Thanks."

Azure screeched to a stop when she heard that. "Whoa, what?"

"I'm not repeating it!" said Romeo, being stubborn. "Now, just hurry up and drive!"

"Alright, alright!" As Azure continued driving, she felt a smile crawl through her face. Now, if only she would find a way for him to thank her again...

* * *

**Hey, guys! I know I made Romeo a bit OOC and a bit cold, but that's his personality before the true Fairy Tail members return! Anyways, the next few chapters are gonna be about fun missions, but I have an announcement!**

**Soon, there will be a Grand Magic Games, taking place one year before the Tenrou team comes back, and that year is the same year Azure joined Fairy Tail! Please suggest ideas for events or battles, because I'm getting prepared too!**


	5. Juliet White

**Heya guys! Sorry for all the trouble, but I had some difficulties trying to come up with some good request ideas!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"There's not a lot of jobs today, huh?" sighed Azure, scratching her head as she and Nab stared at the few requests on the Request Board. So far, for the past few weeks, not a single new request has been posted up due to Fairy's Tail's low reputation even when the members were trying so hard.

"Thanks to that, we have a lot of freetime on our hands," said Reedus, who was currently painting a portrait.

Just then, Kinana ran into the guild, panting heavily while holding up a piece of paper. "Everyone! A new request arrived from the mail!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I see?" asked Azure excitedly. After being handed the request, she read it outloud, "'Dear anyone, once each year, there's a festival in Castilia, and I happen to own a theater for plays. Unfortunately, my plays aren't very good, so I am requesting anyone for auditioning for my play for the festival this year! From, the Castilia Theatre Manager, Mr. Banet. Reward: Half of what the payment from the customers would pay for the play.'"

"I'm not taking the request," said Warren, brushing it off. "If it's a play that's not very popular, we'd get really low money."

"Same here," agreed Bisca, Reedus, and Alzack, raising their hands.

"Oh come on!" complained Azure. "This is the only new, good request we've got! Even if we do get a low amount of money, at least we'll get a reward!"

"She's got a point. Alright, I'm in," said Laki, standing up and putting her book away.

"Alright! All we need is Vijeeter and we're all set! His dancing skills could come in handy!"

"Um...actually, Vijeeter broke his leg in a small accident and he's in the infirmary," spoke up Jet, who was sitting next to Droy.

"Oh no! What happened?" gasped Azure.

"He was dancing when he tripped and fell into a well," answered Droy. "He was lucky we were nearby."

"Oh. In that case, would you two-?"

"No."

"Figures. Oh, Samuel! Please, please, please, please-"

Samuel, who had been writing down something in his notepad, sighed and pushed his glasses up. "Yes, yes. Knowing you, you won't stop until I say yes."

"Alright!"

"You gave up too easily, you know that?" reminded Wakaba.

The Exceed got off his stool and looked up at the smoking man. "Last time she was like that, she didn't stop until she passed out, which was about 2 or 3 hours."

"Yikes."

Azure glanced at Laki and Samuel, then placed a hand under her chin, noticing something was missing. "Hmm...there's something missing...I know! We need a man with us!"

"Why?" asked Laki, crossing her arms.

"Because! To make the perfect play, you need a handsome, attractive, and strong man with muscles! One that's either the hero off to rescue the princess, or a main protagonist in something, I guess! Let's see..."

Azure glanced around the room for all the males. So far, there was Reedus, Alzack, Droy, Macao, Wakaba, Jet, Warren, and Nab.

Vijeeter was in the infirmary due to a bad injury, so he was automatically out.

Nab was a bit muscular, but he had a big belly, and Droy just didn't have the right body and appearance to fit in, so both weren't qualified.

Macao and Wakaba were just...old, so they were out of the question.

Romeo was at school, and Warren didn't exactly have the hero appearance.

That left...

* * *

_A few minutes later..._

'Jet! PLEASE come with us!" begged Azure, clinging onto the speed-magic user's leg as he was forced to drag his leg around when he was trying to go to the bathroom. Everyone watched in slight amusement as the water dragon slayer tried so hard to convince him.

"No! For the last time, no! And, let go! I gotta go to the bathroom!"

"Nope! I'm not letting go until you agree to go!"

Jet sighed, then an idea popped inside his head. "I know! Let me go and I'll join!"

"Really?"

Samuel shook his head in disbelief. "Azure, don't listen to him. It's obvious he's going to make a run for it as soon as he can."

"No! I won't! Just close your eyes and let go!"

"Hmm...Okay!" As soon as Azure did what Jet told her to do, Jet dashed outside using his High Speed magic, leaving some dust clouds behind.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Azure?" called out Bisca gently. "Jet's gone."

Azure slowly opened her eyes and stood up, frowning. "Aww! What did I do wrong to scare him off?"

_'You didn't even scare him, you moron!' _everyone in the guild thought, annoyed. They couldn't believe how ignorant and oblivious Azure was, despite the months she's spent with them.

Too stubborn to give up, Azure reverted to Reedus, who flinched a little. "Reedus! Please come! For the sake of Fairy Tail!"

"B-but...I uh...I have stage fright," whispered Reedus, twiddling his fingers.

"Oh, come on! That has to be the most lamest excuse-"

"Actually, he's telling the truth. Every time he was on stage, he would faint," defended Droy, eating something.

"Hmm...I see! Okay, never mind, Reedus!" assured Azure, patting him gently on his hat before walking towards Alzack. "Alzack..."

"Azure-"

"Before you can say no, at least hear me out! Please, you gotta participate for the play! Even if we get low money, it's for Fairy Tail!"

"Azure-"

"I'll do anything! I'll even hit myself in the head or be your slave or whatever! Just please come and be the hero in the play-"

Then, Azure felt Bisca grasping onto her shoulder gently, giving her a smile. "Azure, I believe Alzack wants to say something."

Alzack cleared his throat before smiling, chuckling a bit. "Yes, I'll join the play, for Fairy Tail."

The dark haired tomboy gasped and jumped to her feet, squealing. "Yay! Now you, me, Samuel, and Laki can go get more money for Fairy Tail! Then, you can get a kiss from the princess in the play and we'll still get half the money even if the play stinks!"

"WHAT?!" demanded Bisca, emitting some sort of dark and dangerous aura.

Samuel facepalmmed. _'Azure, sometimes you really need to shut that mouth of yours!' _

Every male in the room backed into a corner, staying far away from the enraged woman that could summon guns, except for Alzack, who was being held by the collar by Bisca. If anything, everyone felt sorry for the married man as he was crying comical waterfalls from his eyes.

"B-Bisca, dear, calm down. She was only jokin-"

"_Darling. _We're going home. NOW." Saying that, Bisca began to drag her husband away with slow, but effecting stomping steps.

"A-Azure! Don't worry! It's not your fault! It's-! I'm sorry, but it doesn't look like I can help-!"

**SLAM! **The guild members jumped when Bisca slammed the guild doors shut, silence soon filing the air as a small breeze flew by.

"...Um...what?" wondered Azure, tilting her head in confusion.

Then, the door to the infirmary opened, revealing Max with a bewildered expression. "Uh...can someone tell me what all the noise was all about?"

"Max? What are you doing here?" asked Samuel.

"I was taking care of Vijeeter's injury. But enough about me. What happened here?"

Azure's face brightened up, seeing how there was another man to take with. Max was a bit attractive after all. "Max. How would you like to go on an super easy request with me, Samuel, and Laki? The reward pays good."

"Really? That's surprisingly reliable. And what's the request about?"

"Oh, all we have to do is help this guy perform some play at this theatre. Apparently, his um...workers got into an accident, so he's holding auditions for more workers, and his theatre is really, really famous!"

_'LIAR!' _Everyone thought except for Azure and Max, who didn't even know.

"Oh, I see. And all we have to do is perform a play and he pays us big? Sounds easy enough. About how much does he pay us?"

"About...8,000 Jewels each!"

"You are such a liar!" shouted Warren, irritated as a tick mark showed. "Warren, check out the reward from the request paper!"

Azure quickly hid the paper behind her back. "No, no! I think that Max knows well enough that I wouldn't lie about something this easy!"

"Hmm...well, either way, I'll help out," offered Max, causing everyone's jaws to drop in shock.

_'I can't believe it! This actually worked!' _thought Samuel, collecting his composure. "Are you sure about this, Max?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like I'm a complete idiot for buying off a lie."

* * *

_Later, on a train... _

"Gaaaah! I am such a complete idiot!" **BAM! **

"Ow!" cried out Azure, rubbing the spot where Max hit her in the head. "That hurt!"

"Good! You deserved it for tricking me!"

_'You know, maybe I should help her,' _thought Samuel, reading a book. _'But at the same time, she deserves this. Heh.' _

"Oh come on! It's not like I did anything bad!" complained Azure.

"What do you mean?" demanded Max, eye twitching. "You lied about the reward money! It's totally low!"

"Not exactly! I mean, if we do a good job, and lots of customers come, the theatre will have lots and lots of money, and the best part is that we get half of it!"

"That's IF we do a good job," spoke up Laki. Doing a play might not be bad, but the issue was the customers. According to the request, the play wasn't very popular, and so, very few customers. At the very least, they get paid.

"We will do a good job! I'm actually a good singer!" bragged Azure happily. "I'll be able to help out a lot in the play!"

"For once, she's actually telling the truth," commented Samuel.

"Thanks! ...Hey!"

* * *

_Much later, at the theatre... _

"Wow! This place looks so grand!" awed Azure, astonished as she and her group followed Mr. Banet, the requester, inside his theatre. Inside the theatre, there was a huge stage with some stage props in the back, some rooms that lead to dressing rooms, and so forth.

"Huh, it is kinda nice," admitted Laki. 'But I don't see why people don't like coming here."

"Maybe it's just the bad acting, or maybe I mispelled some things in the script," wondered Mr. Banet, taking out the script for the play.

"Hey, can I see it for a second?" Max took the script and read the lines, going through the pages. "'You're a piece of trash.' 'No, you're a piece of trash.' ...What is this?"

"It's my script!"

"No wonder people don't like these plays! Your scripts suck! Even I can do a better job at this!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Hey, let's all calm down!" assured Azure, getting in between the playwright and Max. "Mr. Banet? If we help you rewrite the script and help perform, will you increase our payment, even a little?"

"I doubt we'll even get much money anyways," spoke up Samuel.

"Still, we should go for it! What do you say, Mr. Banet?"

It didn't take long for Mr. Banet to agree. "Alright, fine. Now, we have to decide the roles you all are playing right after we rewrite the script."

"Hold on!" announced the small Exceed, Samuel, using his wings to fly up to everyone's level. "If we're going to do this, we need to attract customers. You already said that your plays aren't good, so we need a lot of people. How are we going to do that?"

"Hmm...well, we should put up posters to let other people know that a play is starting here, considering the festival is next week," suggested Laki as Azure began looking around for something.

The young Dragon Slayer found a Sorcerer Magazine lying on a chair, seeing the cover of an handsome young man with spiky brownish blond hair. She picked the magazine up and ran towards the others. 'Hey! Who's this guy?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's Hibiki from Blue Pegasus. He's very popular there," answered Laki, glancing at the cover.

Azure glanced from the magazine, then to Max, then the magazine, and back to the sand user before grinning. "I have an idea how to get customers here!"

* * *

_A few days later... _

"Hey, Hibiki!" called out Ren and Eve, running around in the guild, spotting their teammate, who was talking to his girlfriend, Jenny.

"Hmm? What is it, guys?" asked Hibiki, stopping his conversation with his girlfriend.

"Why didn't you tell us you were in a play?!" demanded Ren, holding up a poster of Hibiki's face.

**The play, Juliet White, will be featured in the festival in Castilia right in the Castilia Theatre at 3:00! Actors also include Hibiki Lates from Blue Pegasus! **

"EEEHHH?!" Hibiki snatched the poster and stared at it, shocked. He never particpated, or even heard of this before! "I don't remember auditioning for this!"

"That is strange," agreed Jenny. "Maybe we should check it out later on that day just to see who's playing as...well, you, Hibiki."

"Whoever did this must seriously have guts. It's like they're trying to tarnish your name," mumbled Ren to Hibiki.

* * *

_On the day of the play... _

"Hmm...not too bad," muttered Laki, examining herself in the mirror in the dressing room. Right now, she was wearing a long, strapless, velvet colored dress with white gloves, and her hair, which was tied up in a ponytail, was more curly and wavy, making her into a beautiful princess.

"Ahhh...much better!"Azure showed herself in front of Laki, wearing the dark robes that was part of her evil queen/witch part, only, underneath the robes were her regular, casual clothing she always wears during jobs or at Fairy Tail.

"Azure! The play's going to begin soon, and you're wearing your casual clothing underneath those robes?!"

"Hey, nobody's going to notice! Besides, I HATE dresses, and skirts for that matter! Just be glad I'm not wearing my hat!"

A knock on their dressing room door alerted the two girls. "Excuse me? Are you two girls ready?" asked Mr. Banet.

"Coming!" called Azure, putting her hoodie over her head before turning to Laki. "Let's go, Laki!"

"*sigh* Fine!"

After the two girls exited the room, they had to admit, Max looked almost smiliar to Hibiki. Max's sandy-colored hair sorta matched Hibiki's brownish-blondish hair color, and he did make his hair a bit spiky. The sand-magic user wore a night-blue prince-like uniform with a fake sword at his side, making him look a lot like Hibiki.

"You look really handsome, Max!" complimented Azure, clapping her hands. "Now, no one will tell the difference between you and the real Hibiki!"

"Thanks, I guess."

'Ahem! Places, everyone!" announced Mr. Banet. "I have to admit, Azure! I honestly never expected you would add Hibiki's face onto the posters and lie to people that the real Hibiki would be here!"

"Hey, it's not lying! I'm just borrowing the truth!"

'Same thing as lying, idiot!" said Max before bumping her on the head with his fist. "Where's Samuel, anyways?"

"Right here," replied Samuel, flying up to the group.

"Why aren't you in costume?" asked Laki.

"I'm the narrator, remember? I don't have to dress up."

Meanwhile, a large crowd, mostly Hibiki fangirls, were gathering and sitting down in seats, mumbling to each other and squealing about Hibiki.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it!"

"Bets that Hibiki-kun is going to be the prince!"

"Yeah!"

"Hurry up and bring my sweet Hibiki here! Kya!~"

The real Hibiki, along with the Trimens and Jenny, were reserved in the back seats, so that none of Hibiki's fangirls spot them and cause a commotion. "I wonder what sort of play this is going to be," said Eve, interested.

"Well, the title is 'Juliet White' so it's probably a combination of Juliet and Snow White," answered Jenny. "But still, I can't wait! Ooh! It's starting!"

From the stage, the lights shined upon Samuel, who was holding up some papers, which happened to be the script, considering he refused to memorize the 'ridiculous' script and had to read them as part of being a narrator. "Welcome to the play, 'Juliet White.'"

"Hey, is that someone in a cat costume, or is that an actual, talking cat?"

'Maybe it's a talking cat. I mean, that Natsu guy had this weird, talking cat."

"Oh, and that cute girl, Wendy, had a talking cat too!"

"I wonder when they started recruiting talking cats?"

"Hey, is it just me, or is that an Exceed?" wondered Ren.

"I'd guess probably an Exceed," said Ren, crossing his arms. "This is turning out to be interesting."

Samuel ignored the murmurs about him from the audience and continued reading his part as the curtains slowly opened to reveal the beautiful Laki, who was supposed to be playing as the princess, Juliet White. "Princess Juliet White was beloved by all creatures and kind to everyone else, her beauty surprassing that of a goddess. But, meanwhile, back at the castle..."

Just as the Exceed said that, the curtains closed, and under a minute, they opened up against, revealing a dark setting, a glass mirror, and Azure playing as the evil queen. When it was her turn to shine, Azure whipped out a microphone she had took from the props and crackled loudly, 'AHAHAHA! I'M THE QUEEN! I'M THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN OF THEM ALL! BOW BEFORE ME, YOU MONGRELS!"

_'Azure! That was way too loud!' _thought Samuel, covering his ears in annoyance. He wasn't the only one to complain, as the others in the audience complained that the queen was too loud, or should quiet down.

"Azure! You don't use the microphone!" hissed Laki, who was off-stage.

"Oh, sorry!" Azure tossed the microphone to Laki, who managed to catch it in time. The dakr-haired dragon slayer cleared her throat before continuing her role. "Mirror, mirror! On the wall! Tell me who's the most loveliest of all?"

Mr. Banet, who was playing as the magic mirror offstage, spoke as loudly as he could, "You may be lovely, my queen, but the loveliest of all is Juliet White!"

"What?! Impossible! Fine, if that is the case..." Azure pulled out an wand from her robe pocket. "With the power of my magical wand, I shall enchant Juliet White and command her to do my bidding! And, I shall make her as ugly as possible! Yes!"

After the curtains closed to change into a different setting, showing Laki on top of a fake tower, Samuel began reading the script. "Meanwhile, Princess Juliet White was enjoying her own free time, when a handsome prince came out of the blue."

"Eek! It's Hibiki-kun!"

"I really want to see him as a prince! My prince-sama!~"

_'God, are all fangirls like this?' _wondered Samuel as Max stepped into the stage, trying to impose as the prince, or rather, more like Hibiki.

"That's him? That's supposed to the 'Hibiki' from the posters?" wondered Ren as the fangirls screamed with joy.

"I do have to admit, he does look a bit like Hibiki," admitted Jenny, clinging onto the real Hibiki's arm. "But, he's nowhere near like the real one!~"

Max, playing as the prince, glanced up at Laki and acted like he was surprised. "My, what a beautiful princess you are."

"KYAA! HE'S SO HANDSOME!" squealed the fangirls, love in their eyes.

Just then, two guards made of wood approached the stage, wielding wooden spears. They were created from Laki's Wood-Make magic under instructions from Mr. Banet for dramatic effect. Right now, they were being controlled by Laki, who was trying to hide her magic from the audience.

The prince Max noticed the wooden guards and got into a fighting stance, taking out his fake sword. "Don't worry, princess! I will fight off these guards and as a reward, we shall talk...ugh...privately!" _'That line sounded SO wrong!' _

"Aah! Hibiki-sama is going to fight!"

"Go! Go!"

"Sand Slash!" Using the sword, Max slashed at the air, shooting out a scythe-shape blast of sand from his own magic. The spell was enough to slash through the wooden soldiers, but caused some confusion from some of the fans.

"Hey, is that really supposed to be Hibiki-sama's magic?"

'Doesn't he use a different kind of magic?"

"Maybe he recently discovered a new kind of magic."

"Sand Magic? Hey, I recognize that girl! She was from Fairy Tail!" gasped Eve.

"Oh?" Using his Archive Magic, Hibiki began searching through the Fairy Tail member information before finding identical pictures of the actors, who were now talking to each other romantically. "Ah, found it. Apparently, that young lady acting as the princess is a woman named Laki, and the other guy that's pretending to be me is someone named Max."

"Ooh! How dare that Max person use my Hibiki's identity like that?!" growled Jenny, eye twitching in anger.

After the prince and Princess Juliet White talked to each other about running away together and leaving the stage, the curtain closed, expecting to stay that way for a few minutes while everyone prepares for the next act when they encountered a problem.

"What do you mean you didn't have a golem ready?!" cried out Mr. Banet angrily at Laki.

"I'm sorry! I can make a wood golem, but it's pretty hard, and it'll take me time!"

"Crap, what do we do then?" questioned Max, rubbing the back of his neck. "We need the golem for the final battle for the play. We need some sort of distraction!"

"I can distract the audience, for a while, anyways," spoke up Azure before turning to Samuel. "Samuel! Play the piano! We're going to sing!"

"Wait, you can?" wondered Mr. Banet. "Wait, how did you know I have a piano here?"

"I saw it around the corner a while ago. Now, let's go! Laki, you go and finish making the wood golem, while me and Samuel prepare for a distraction!"

* * *

_A few minutes later... _

"Come on! Bring out Hibiki-sama already!"

"What's taking so long?!"

"Hurry up!"

"My, my. The fans sure are getting impatient," sighed Hibiki before noticing the curtains were starting to open. However, the background was completely dark, and the only light was shown downwards at the evil queen alone.

"Huh? What's going on?" wondered Ren, taking notice as the audience soon became silent to see what was going on.

Then, a quiet melody began playing from a piano offstage, the piano being played by Samuel. Azure, still donned in her evil queen costume, tilted her head down a bit, took a deep breath, and let it all out before singing in a soft, but loudly in a somewhat angelic voice.

_Mirror, tell me something..._

_Tell me who's the loneliest of all?_

_Mirror, tell me something,_

_Tell me who's the loneliest of all?_

_Fear of what's inside me,_

_Tell me can a heart be turned to stone? _

As the piano kept playing, Azure remained silent, listening carefully to the rhythm of the song as she prepared to sing very soon. In the meantime, the audience was shocked to even utter a word while listening to the beautiful song. They had thought the evil queen was supposed to be, well, evil! But now, here she was, singing beautifully. In a way, they felt sorry for the queen, as well as nostalgic.

"Despite playing as the villain, she sings very good," commented Ren, impressed.

"I really want to meet who's under that hood of hers!" said Eve, excited.

"Yes! What excellent singing!" agreed Ichiya, sparkles glittering around him.

Then, Azure started humming the keys outloud while Samuel continued playing the song. Lots of people closed their eyes, letting the melodic music flowed through their ears like the soft wind.

_Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?_

_Save me from the things I see! _

_I can keep it from the world,_

_Why won't you let it hide from me?_

_Mirror, mirror, tell me something,_

_Who's the loneliest of all?_

_I'm the LONELIEST of all... _

Azure continued to sing the last part's melody until the piano drifted off. Once the song was over, she lifted up her head and opened her eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxing her shoulders.

Then, the audience started to applaud, the fangirls cheering and crying out for joy. Even the Blue Pegasus members were happily clapping for her performance as Azure let a grin run through her face under her hood before bowing her head gratefully.

Suddenly, a giant wood monster crashed into the stage behind Azure, followed with an "I'm sorry!" from Laki. Max rushed into the stage, causing many fangirls to squeal and scream loudly.

"What's happening?!" hissed Azure, panicking.

"Laki accidentally sent the wood golem right here!" whispered Max, taking out his fake sword. "Oh wait, I forgot this was fake. Damnit!"

An idea popped into Azure's head before she shouted, "Oh, prince! You have come to help me defeat this golem! It's the most powerful being of all the magical lands! I swear I will be good and no longer harm Juliet White if you help me defeat this thing!"

"Wait, what?! That's not part of the script!" reminded Max.

"Just play along!"

"H-hey! What am I supposed to do?!" whispered Laki, who was hiding behind the curtains.

"Maybe you should control the golem so it can attack us. Let's give the audience what they want," suggested Azure before taking a fighting stance.

Max sighed, knowing there was no turning back now. "Alright, fine. But if anything goes wrong, it's your fault!"

"Whoa! The hero and the villain working together!"

"That's so cool!"

"A good play indeed!"

"Sand Blast!" Concentrating sand around his fist, Max then throws a massive blast of sand towards the golem. However, the spell was only enough to knock the golem back and not fall to the ground.

Expression turning cold and serious, Azure emotionlessly charged at the golem after Max's assault, leaping into the air. She threw a kick at the golem's arm, quickly finding out it was too hard before launching herself off the golem and next to Max.

"Azur-er, Evil queen! Let's combine our magic together!" shouted Max, gathering sand around his palms. Azure silently nodded before standing back to concentrate on a magic spell.

"Hey, are they about to prepare a unison raid?" gasped Jenny, surprised.

"Sand Spear!"

"Water Dragon's Roar!"

Simultaneously, both mages combined their sand and water dragon slayer magic together, forming some sort of sand twister with water particles that destroyed the wood golem. At the sight of the destroyed monster, the audience cheered for their victory.

"Whoa...was it just me, or is the one playing as the queen a Dragon Slayer?" said Ren.

"I think I clearly heard her say 'Water Dragon's Roar,'" said Jenny. "But it must be our imagination. I mean, not to be insulting, but no one would ever join Fairy Tail now since it's...decreased, much less a Dragon Slayer."

"Maybe, but...I was probably hearing things too," said Eve. However, Ichiya didn't seemed convinced, seeing how he was sensing a very large amount of magic and hostility from the young girl playing the evil queen.

Azure turned to Max and winked, reminding him that they were still in the play. She cleared her throat before speaking, "As promised, I shall not curse Princess Juliet White any longer! I shall forever redeem my sins by becoming good and helping others!"

Samuel appeared back to the spot where he narrated. 'And so, uh...the evil queen became the good queen that helped others, and the prince and Juliet White married and lived happily ever after. The end."

Afterwards, the audience applauded and cheered as the curtains closed and the lights turned on. Jenny turned to Hibiki and asked, 'So, what are you going to do to Fairy Tail, Hibiki?"

"Hmm? Nothing. They haven't done anything wrong, even if they did use my name. Plus, the singing was a nice touch."

* * *

_The next day... _

_Fear of what's inside me,_

_Tell me can a heart be turned to stone? _

As the small Fairy Tail group were returning back to Magnolia, Azure kept on singing the same sing over and over which soon became annoying to everyone. "Okay, Azure?" interrupted Max. "The song was beautiful at first, but now it's starting to get annoying."

"Boo! You're no fun!"

"Well, at least we got a huge reward from the request," said Laki, trying to brighten things up.

"Yeah! We should go together as a group again!" suggested Azure.

'As long as you don't lie about the request or the reward again," said Max.

"Oh come on! It was one time!"

_'Are me and Laki the only mature ones now?' _pondered Samuel.

* * *

**Finished at long last! And on the first day of November no less! If I finished this yesterday, it would have been Halloween! Anyways, the song Azure was singing was Mirror Mirror, by RWBY, if you're interested! Read and review!**


	6. Babysitting Blues

**Hey, guys! I'll try to focus more on Fairy Tail, but it's kinda hard to come up with some ideas! But, here's a bit of some Romeo x Azure!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Grrr..." Azure stared down at the glass of milk, eyeing it with spite and hatred as she sat at a table inside the guild.

"Azure-chan! You didn't drink your milk!" Kinana scolded lightly, poking her in the forehead.

"I'm not drinking it! Yuck!"

"You'd think that after the 50th time she served milk to her, she'd learn," mumbled Max, who was watching the whole thing. Kinana had cooked Azure breakfast as usual since Azure was living here with Samuel, but each time Kinana served milk, Azure would always refuse.

Romeo, who was preparing to go to school and currently talking to Bisca and Alzack, noticed Kinana and Azure's argument. "What are they doing?" the boy wondered.

"Oh, they're just arguing about milk again. Apparently, Azure hates it," answered Alzack, waving it off.

"Why does she hate it?"

"Something about it being from cow pee, which is...a gross way to describe it, but isn't exactly true."

Romeo rolled his eyes and walked over to Azure, who was still complaining about the milk. He grabbed the glass of milk and shoved it down her throat, forcing her to swallow it and almost choke, much to everyone's shock.

"Blah! Gah!" Azure ran towards the bathroom, closing the door before the sound of splashing water could be heard. Seconds later, she opened the door and stomped up to Romeo, water dripping from her chin. "Baka! What was that for?!"

"Hmph. You wouldn't drink your milk, so I had no choice but to force you to drink it, Usagi."

"Grrr! I will get you back for this, Romeo!"

"Whatever. I have to get to school. See ya." Ignoring Azure's protests against him, Romeo left the guild to get to his destination.

"Ugh! That annoying, little, overconfident brat!" growled Azure, stomping around and frailing her arms around. This was just one of her ways to release her anger in a non-violent way, and slightly amusing to the others.

"Azure-chan! Can you come here for a second?" called Bisca.

"Coming!" Azure rushed to the young couple and said down next to them happily, swinging her legs. "What is it? What is it?"

_'Wow, one minute she's mad, and the second, she's all happy-go-lucky. Weird,' _thought Droy and Jet, sweatdropping together.

Alzack chuckled at the young girl's curiosity. "Alright, settle down. Me and Bisca have to go on a job together, so I was wondering if you could babysit Asuka?"

And just like that, the guild was filled of bursting excitement.

"OH MY GOD! YES! YES! WHEN?! WHERE?! I WANNA PLAY WITH HER! CAN I?! CAN I?!"

Her outburst could be heard by Romeo, who was still heading down the hills to get to his magic school. He scratched his ears, winching as Azure's squeals were still heard. "Jeez, just how loud is the Usagi anyways?!"

"...Are you done?" asked Max, who was covering his ears like everyone else.

"Yup! Got it all outta my system!" replied Azure happily, patting the area where her heart should be.

"Right, well, let's go to our home. Asuka's still sleeping, so let's enter inside quietly," suggested Bisca, gently taking the girl's arm. She and Alzack had been planning for Azure to babysit their daughter for quite a while, due to Azure always playing with Asuka and making her happy all the time whenever they spent time together.

Arriving at their home, Bisca unlocks the door and calls out, "Asuka-chan! We're home!"

"Mama! Papa!" The little girl rushed down the stairs to greet her parents with a cheerful look on her face.

"Hmm? Asuka-chan, weren't you sleeping?" asked Alzack, kneeling down to his daughter.

"I woke up! But Mama and Papa were gone, so I went and brushed my teeth all by myself!"

"Wow! Good job, Asuka-chan!" cheered Azure, clapping.

"Oh! Hi, Azure onee-chan!"

The gun magic couple were surprised at Azure's nickname. Sure it's been a few months since Azure join the guild, but already, Asuka's addressing her as a big sister? Wow, now they knew full well where to get a babysitter.

"KYA!~ YOU'RE SO CUTE, ASUKA-CHAN!~" Azure squealed, hugging Asuka and rubbing her face against hers lightly, admiring the small girl.

Afterwards, Bisca gave Azure a list of what needed to be done and how to take care of Asuka. There were chores like bathing Asuka, feeding her, taking walks with her to the park, and when her bedtime schedule. She also included that if Asuka was sick or gotten injured, Azure had to take her to the guild so that the others could give her the medicine and let her rest in the infirmary.

With all that said, Bisca kissed her daughter goodbye and said, "We'll be back by tommorow, so until then, listen to Azure-chan, okay?"

"Hai!"

After the couple left, Azure read the list over, knowing full well what to do first. "Asuka-chan! Are you hungry? Want to eat something?"

Just the sound of the little girl's stomach growling answered her question. "Yup! I'm sooo hungry!"

"Okay! Let's go inside, and I'll cook you something to eat!"

"Yay!"

Carrying Asuka to the play room, where there were toys scattered around, Azure placed the girl down on the ground so she could play with them before walking towards the kitchen. She opened the fridge, and the only ingredients she could use to make a good breakfast were some vegetables and eggs.

About half an hour later, Asuka was playing with a stuffed animal and a small ball when she heard Azure calling out for her. She dropped everything she had and rushed to the kitchen, where a small plate full of an vegetable egg omelette along with a glass of milk was waiting for her.

"Mmm! Smells so good! Thank you, Azure-oneechan!" Asuka sat down on a stool and took a bite of her breakfast before her eyes lit up. "Wow! So delicious!"

"I'm glad you like it, Asuka-chan!" said Azure, taking off Asuka's hat and lightly ruffling her hair before placing the hat back on.

* * *

_A few hours later... _

"Here, Romeo! Lunch!" called Kinana, placing the boy's meal in front of him. Romeo always returned back to the guild for food whenever it was lunchtime before returning back to his magic school.

"Thanks," he spoke quietly before taking a bite out of his lunch.

"...And I keep telling you, quit dancing! It's so weird!" complained Samuel as he, Vijeeter, and Nab entered the guild. They had been on a job together and both Nab and Samuel were constantly talking about Vijeeter's ridiculous dancing, which he was doing just now.

"Hey, so how was the job?" Jet called, welcoming the trio back.

"Well, other than Samuel's long lectures and Vijeeter's dancing, it went well," replied Nab, sighing.

"Does anyone know where Azure is?" asked Samuel, flying around the room, looking for his energetic partner.

"Oh, she's babysitting Asuka," answered Wakaba, currently smoking.

"Wait, what?!" both Samuel and Romeo, who had risen up from his seat and forgotten about his lunch.

"What's the big deal? It's not like there's any trouble or anything. Besides, Azure loves the girl," said Macao, not seeing what the problem is.

"Grrr!" Romeo rushed out of the guild, obviously troubled.

"Ugh, whoever thought the idea of Azure babysitting is a moron," groaned Samuel, shaking his head. "Knowing Azure, she might squeeze the girl to death. Or, she might take huge risks, like dropping her into a river just to teach her how to swim. She's completely irresponsible without me!"

"Come on, you're overexaggerating," chuckled Wakaba, even though he did kinda believe Samuel a little and was fearful for Asuka's life.

"...You guys are stupid. This conversation is stupid. I'm leaving." With that said, Samuel flew out of the guild in a hurry.

* * *

_Later, with Azure and Asuka... _

"Vooom! Voom! Voooom! More! More!"

"Haha! Okay!"

Azure was playing airplane with Asuka, with the Water Dragon Slayer picking up Asuka by the waist, lifting her up, and swinging her around while running in the park, acting as the airplane for Asuka. The little girl seemed to be enjoying this game out of all the other games she would play with Azure or her parents.

Suddenly, Asuka was snatched out of Azure's hands and into Romeo's arms, surprising Azure. "Romeo! Hey, what'd you do that for?!"

"What were you doing?! You could have dropped her!" yelled Romeo, placing the girl into the ground safefully.

"What are you saying? I had a tight grip on her! No way was she going to fall! Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"I was...just walking around! And I saw you and Asuka! I thought you were going to drop her!" Actually, the first part was a bit of a lie. Romeo was actually searching for Azure and Asuka so that Azure doesn't hurt the young girl.

Truth be told, Romeo doesn't like nor trust Azure very much ever since she joined the guild. Probably because she was always too cheerful that it kinda sicken Romeo in a way, and maybe the fact that she kept mentioning she was a Dragon Slayer. Also because she's trying to find out if Gray Fullbuster is her big brother, since her last name is Fullbuster.

"I was not going to drop her, stupid!" Azure turned to Asuka, who was looking at both her and Romeo curiously. "Asuka! Were you having fun before Romeo here interrupted things?"

"Yup! Yup! Azure onee-chan was swinging me around! Vooom!"

"..." While Asuka did admit to having a great time with the older girl, Romeo still didn't trust Azure one bit.

Then, Azure felt Romeo grabbed the collar of her jacket and dragged her close ho his face. "H-hey! What are you doing?!"

"Did you hurt Asuka? If you did, I'll never forgive you," threatened Romeo coldly.

"I didn't! Jeez, lighten up, will ya?"

"Ahem. Am I interrupting something?" Both Romeo and Azure turned their heads and saw Samuel, watching them with an amused expression on his face. "Because, I can come back later if you want me to-"

Realizing the position he and Azure were in, Romeo pushed Azure away, causing her to fall to the grass before turning away, crossing his arms. "N-nothing happened! That's all!"

"Ow! Didn't need to push me," mumbled Azure to herself, taking off her hat and ruffling her head to get some of the grass off before placing her long hair back in her hat and putting it on top of her head. "So, what are you doing here, Samuel?"

"Me? I was looking for you! I heard that you were taking care of Asuka, so I got worried! I thought you would be irresponsible and risk her life!"

'Exactly!" For once, Romeo had to agree with the Exceed.

Azure picked up Asuka, carrying her safely in her arms while making a pouty expression at her two friends. "You two need to trust me more! Even I'm not stupid enough to risk an innocent, cute, little, adorable girl's life!"

"Whatever! I'll take Asuka back to her parents now. Your job here's done!" declared Romeo, grabbing Azure's arm.

"Hey, let go!" Yanking her arm away from the fire-user, Azure stuck her tongue childishly at Romeo. 'And for your information, Bisca and Alzack entrusted me to take care of Asuka-chan! They're not returning until tommorow! If you don't believe me, ask the others!"

Asuka, who was confused by what was going on, glanced around and saw an ice cream stand nearby. "Azure-chan! I want ice cream! Can we PLEASE get ice cream?"

"Okay! Since you've been such a good little girl all this time, I'll get you ice cream!" agreed Azure, skipping towards the ice cream man.

"Hold it, Usagi!" called Romeo, grabbing the back of Azure's overcoat. "We're not done talking!"

"Yes we are. I already told you everything I knew. Come on, Asuka-chan. Let's go leave these two idiots behind." Saying that, Azure pulled her overcoat away from Romeo's grasp and continued towards the ice cream man.

Sighing, Samuel followed the two just in case. Snapping out of it, Romeo picked up the pace, grumbling to himself. Once she was at the ice cream stand, Azure put Asuka to the ground and asked, 'Asuka-chan! What flavor do you want?"

"Chocolate!"

"Alright then, little miss," said the ice cream man, about to scoop up some chocolate ice cream into a cone.

"No, strawberry!"

"Oh, okay-"

"No, chocolate! No, strawberry!"

Azure already knew the solution to this problem. "I'll take two scoops of strawberry and chocolate, please! Oh, and some vanilla in another cone please!"

After the Water Dragon Slayer paid for both ice cream cones, she handed the ice cream cone with the strawberry and chocolate to Asuka. "Yay! Yay!" she cheered before licking her ice cream.

"Here, Samuel! Your favorite," offered Azure, bending down to give her cat friend the ice cream.

"As much as I love some, Azure, I'm afraid that I just ate lunch, and I do not wish to spoil my appetite," the Exceed politely refused.

"Huh, okay!" The dark-haired girl turned to Romeo, and before she could ask, he simply looked away, annoying her.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!" A little boy a bit younger than Asuka began crying, holding an empty looking ice cream cone, which the ice cream was already on the ground. A woman, possibly his mother, was trying to comfort the boy, but was failing to do so.

Azure walked over to the woman and held out her ice cream. "Miss? Is that your son? Here, take my ice cream. That boy might need it."

The woman seemed surprised by the actions of the young boy despite not knowing she was a girl. "Are you sure?"

"Yup! I like vanilla, but not that much! Besides, your son probably needs it more than me anyways! If I wanted ice cream, I can always buy another one!"

"Well, in that case, thank you, young man," thanked the mother before taking the ice cream cone and handing it to her son, who stopped crying. "Dear, please say thank you to this boy."

"Okay! Thank you, mister!" said the boy, showing a cheeky grin. Azure nodded and smiled before walking back to Samuel, Romeo, and Asuka, who had been watching the whole thing.

Romeo was stunned. He didn't think Azure would-well, actually, she has done a few selfless acts, but this was one of the few times she's been generous and kind to others, like that little boy who was crying earlier. In fact, he thinks that his opinion of her has improved.

Samuel let a small, faint smile run through his face as he pushed his glasses up. He had kinda expected this from Azure, helping out the weak when needed, like just now. Throughout all the years he's been with her, he hasn't seen her go bad, except for all the times whenever she would pull pranks or mess around in a childish way. Other than those times, she would never turn evil in a bad way.

"Azure onee-chan! Look! I finished all my ice cream!" announced Asuka, holding up her empty ice cream cone while her face was smeared of brown and pink colors. Actually, the insides of the ice cream cone had some melted ice cream, but the little girl didn't care about that.

Asuka started to get woozy and felt sick in the stomach as she kept stumbling back and forth. "A-Asuka-chan! Are you okay?!" asked Azure, grabbing hold of her shoulders.

"O-Oi! Usagi! What did you do?!" demanded Romeo, worried for the small girl's sake.

"Oh come on! How could this have possible been my fault?!"

"If you two are done with your lovers quarrel, then you better hurry up and get Asuka back home," advised Samuel. "She looks ready to puke anytime."

"Ah! You're right! Gomen, Asuka-chan!" cried out Azure, picking up the small, pale-faced girl before running, forcing Samuel to follow her.

"Hey! We're not having a lovers quarrel!" shouted Romeo, red-faced as he chased after them.

* * *

_Later, at Bisca and Alzack's home... _

"BLEEHHHH!"

"There, there, Asuka-chan," assured Azure, trying to comfort the poor girl as she wiped the puke from her mouth and chin. She felt bad, knowing full well she was responsible for the girl's health. She touched Asuka's forehead, because before it was hot, but now, it seemed to have cool down immensely.

As Azure was taking care of Asuka, both Romeo and Samuel were enjoying some lemonade they got from Bisca and Alzack's refrigerator. Samuel decided now would be the time to confront Romeo. "You know, Azure's really good with kids."

"Uh-huh. But I can do better," replied Romeo quietly.

"...Why do you hate Azure so much anyways? Other than being a bit annoying all the time, she's never done anything bad to you."

Romeo set his cup on the table and turned to the Exceed. "Look, I know you're trying to defend her because she's your friend, but she's not a friend to me."

Samuel sighed. "Typical. Maybe if you tried to spend less time hating her and judging her, and more time spending time with her, you'll see she's not that bad of a person. You might get along if you gave her a chance."

"..." Romeo said nothing in response, turning away with a frown look. Both males waited for Azure and Asuka to come out, but after half an hour, both were beginning to worry.

"What's taking them so long?" murmured Samuel, glancing at the clock. He heard Romeo standing up from his seat and walking upstairs, where both Asuka and her babysitter were. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm checking up on Asuka. I don't trust the Usagi with her."

_'Wait a second,' _the glasses-wearing Exceed thought, remembering something. _'A few minutes ago, I heard water running, so I assume both girls were in the bathroom. If that's the case-!' _

"AAAAAHHHH! WHAT THE HELL, ROMEO?!"

"E-EXCUSE ME!"

"...That idiot."

When Romeo, Azure, and Asuka entered the kitchen, they all had different expressions on their faces. Romeo's face was the color of a tomato, and he was looking down in shame. Azure's hair was still a little wet, but more importantly, she looked annoyed with tints of pink in her cheek. Asuka was just being curious and had no idea what was going on.

Samuel simply enjoyed his cup of lemonade, smirking. "So, how was the water?"

"S-SHUT UP, SAMUEL!" yelled Romeo, still embarrassed.

"Oh! It was warm! Asuka-chan and I enjoyed our bath together!" replied Azure cheerfully, her mood lightened up.

Samuel and Romeo sweatdropped. Did this girl even remember what happened just a few minutes ago? Either she forgot, or she's trying to forget the fact it even happened.

"So, Asuka-chan! What do you want to do now? There's still time before we eat dinner, so do you want to play something?"

Asuka shook her head at the Water Dragon Slayer. 'Why does Romeo nii-chan call you Usagi, Azure onee-chan? I have a doll named Usagi-chan, so why doesn't he call you Usagi-chan?"

"Oh yeah, come to think of it, you always call Azure by 'Usagi.' What's up with that?" Samuel questioned, also wondering the same thing.

"That's..." Romeo looked a bit hesitant to answer.

"Ooh! I know why!" said Azure, raising her hand. "You see-"

"Usagi! Don't you dare say anything! Or else..." Romeo tried to look threatening, but he was failing due to the red faced expression he had on.

"Hehehe!" There was a mischevious glint in Azure's eyes as she continued, secretly wanting payback on Romeo for all the times he was rude to her. "You see, Asuka-chan..."

* * *

_Flashback..._

_"Hmmmm..." As Azure was humming to herself, she was exploring outside of the small guild when she saw a small, injured baby rabbit. She quickly cradled the poor animal in her arms and cooed, "Oh, you poor thing! Don't worry! I'll take care of you!"_

_Meanwhile, Romeo was taking a walk when he heard faint giggles nearby. Curious, he decided to check it out while hiding somewhere. Peeking out of his hiding spot, he saw Azure taking care of a baby rabbit with a carrot and the water from the small pond._

_"Romeo! I know you're out there! Come on out!"_

_Surprised, Romeo stepped out of his hiding place and approached Azure, who was still cradling the baby rabbit. "...How did you know where I was?"_

_"Easy! I heard your movements and smell your close by!" Azure walked towards Romeo and lifted up the baby rabbit. "You want to pet him?"_

_"...No, I'm alright. Usagi."_

_"Usagi...? Is that my new nickname? Isn't that word for rabbit?" Azure smiled happily. "Okay! At least it's better than 'idiot, moron, or dumbie!'"_

* * *

_End of flashback... _

"...Damn you, Usagi."

"Haha! You're welcome!" replied Azure.

"That wasn't a compliment!"

"I know!~"

Asuka looked back and forth at the two. "Are Azure onee-chan and Romeo onii-chan married?"

"MARRIED?!" both exclaimed, their faces pink with embarrassment.

Samuel smirked, amused. "Yes. Answer the little girl's question."

"W-whatever are you talking about?!" exclaimed Romeo, wanting to get out of this situation faster than ever. "We're not like that, Asuka! No way will I ever kiss the Usagi!"

"Who said anything about kissing?" asked Samuel, gaining more entertainment from this. "The way you're acting now, it's like you did something scandalous with Azure."

'Oh shut up, Samuel!"

"Nope! Romeo and I aren't married, Asuka-chan! He's not my type anyways," said Azure. "Why don't you wash your hands while we prepare for dinner?"

"Okay!"

After the little girl ran to the bathroom, Samuel glanced at Romeo and asked, "So, are you going to keep watching over Asuka? Because if you do, you'll have to stay here for the night. Alone. With Azure."

That irritated Romeo. "N-no! I was just about to leave! Bye!"

"Wait, Romeo-!" called out Azure.

"BYE!"

"Huh, what a jerk! I wonder why he was in a hurry for! He could have stayed for dinner," the Water Dragon Slayer pouted, placing her hands on her hips.

Samuel shook his head in disbelief. "Someday, Azure. Someday..."

* * *

**Whew! Finished! Usagi means 'rabbit' in Japanese, so that's all! Next chapter will come up soon, so read and review!**


	7. Growing is Caring

**Okay, let's skip the lovey dovey parts for now and focus more on missions! **

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"..." Azure stared down at the glass of milk she was ordered to drink, growling. Once again, like almost every day, she was faced with the most worst enemy ever: Milk.

"You know Kinana's going to keep serving you that until you finally give in, right?" reminded Max, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Azure! It's just a simple gulp!" urged Kinana, annoyed. "If you don't drink milk, you'll never grow up!"

"No way! I'm not gonna drink this! Hmph!" Stating that, Azure crossed her arms and looked away in a huff. She tried to think of ways to get rid of the milk. She couldn't slip it to Samuel because he was away on a mission with Alzack and Bisca, so that plan was out.

"Kinana! I'm finished with my food! Here!" called Droy, presenting his empty dish.

Kinana took the dish with a smile. "Okay then!" She turned to Azure with a stern look on her face. "Please drink the milk by the time I get back!"

As soon as the purple-haired waitress entered the kitchen, Azure zoomed past Wakaba and Max, holding a glass of milk in front of Droy. "Drink this and I'll buy you lunch for today!"

"Deal!" Droy swiped the glass of milk from Azure and chugged it down in one gulp before giving it back to Azure. Azure ran back to her seat as if nothing happened.

"...You do realize Kinana will find out about this, right?" spoke up Wakaba.

"No she won't!" giggled Azure as Kinana came back, looking pleased.

"Oh! You finally dranked your milk! Keep this up, and you'll grow up to be strong and healthy!" encouraged the purple-haired woman, patting Azure in the head before taking the empty glass and walking away.

"Oi, Droy! I've got us a job!" called Jet, walking towards his friend while holding a request sheet. "It says we have to go retrieve some sort of treasure located inside some ruins for 12,000 Jewels. Seems easy enough."

After hearing the word, 'treasure,' Azure ran behind Jet, her eyes sparkling with joy and excitement. "Ooh! Treasure! Did you say treasure? Can I come? Can I come? I wanna! I wanna! Come on, come on, please?"

"Sure!" agreed Droy.

"Hold on!" interrupted Jet, taking Droy by the arm and leading him away from Azure, who was curious to what they were talking about. As soon as they were far from where Azure was, the speed-magic user whispered, "What were you thinking? I wanted both of us to do this job!"

"But, think about it, Jet," urged Droy. "If we bring Azure, who's a Dragon Slayer, it'll make the job easier for us! There might be tough monsters!"

"But we have to get tough too, for Fairy Tail and ourselves!" argued Jet.

The overweighted man sighed. "This is just a rumor, but...I heard that the last people who tried out this request were wiped out instantly once inside the ruins. They were lucky enough to escape, though."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, Master Macao and Wakaba told me once. Come on, we should at least bring Azure with us! With a Dragon Slayer by our side, we might as well be invincible!"

Jet thought about it for a moment. If what Droy was saying was true, then they might need an additional and strong comrade to help them. "Alright, fine. We'll bring her along. Azure! Can you come here for a second?"

"Yay! Yay! I get to be on the team!" cheered Azure, happily skipping towards the two.

"But...we didn't even say anything," reminded Droy, surprised. "How did-?"

"Dragon Slayer senses!" replied Azure, pointing to her ears. "I could hear every word you said! How do you think I cheated at cards while playing with Master and Wakaba?"

"WHAT?! YOU CHEATED?!" Wakaba yelled, overhearing the conversation. "No wonder we lost!"

Azure turned to them, annoyed. "Hey, you were cheating too! I saw your cheating ways, so that makes us even!"

"And, I think we should go now," spoke up Jet, dragging Azure away by the arm as he and Droy left the guild.

* * *

_Several hours later... _

"Aww! I'm still confused why we had to take a stupid carriage! We could have gotten to the ruins faster if we used my motorcycle!" whined Azure as she and her team wandered around in a jungle, trying to locate the ruins enlisted in the map.

"Uh, do you not realize Droy's size?" questioned Jet, pointing to Droy who was eating an apple. "If he tried to sit on your motorcycle, it would have broken instantly!"

"Hey! I'm still here, you know!"

"...Yeah, you're right. It's bad enough that I have to drag my motorcycle to the repair shop every once in a while, but being broken into pieces is even worse!" sighed Azure.

"HEY!"

Some low, growling noises alerted the team's attention, causing them to stand up straight and glance around in suspicion. Soon enough, they were surrounded by a pack of wolves, baring their sharp shark-like teeth, and hungry for one thing: Humans.

"Wolves! Why did it have to be wolves?" fretted Droy.

"Oh, knock it off! Besides, these guys don't look so tough," retorted Jet, being cocky.

"Well, if we have to fight them, then let's just make this quick," sighed Azure, shaking her head. "Let's go, Team Water Trio!"

"Where'd you get that stupid name?" questioned Jet, frowning.

"Hey! It's not stupid! Trio means the three of us, and I'm the leader, and I control water, so yeah!"

"Even I can come up with better names way faster than you!"

"Um...guys!" cried out Droy, slightly frightened as the wolves started approaching them one by one. "They're getting closer!"

"Fine! Let's move!" ordered Jet, crotching down as if he was ready to run. "Falcon Heavenward!" Rushing at some wolves, Jet then swung his leg around, knocking away a few of them.

"Knuckle Plant!" Throwing a few seeds at the ground, Droy then used his Plant Magic to summon several vines from the ground which transformed into fists, thus pummeling several wolves.

Azure blinked once, then twice before her expression sharpened and became stern as she unsheathed her dao sword. She sprinted forward at some wolves, who jumped to the air, ready to pounce on her. As she leaped upwards, she performed a variety of slashes before coming back to the ground, decapitated parts of the wolves falling behind her.

Together, with their magic and fighting techniques, the three of them managed to defeat a lot of wolves before the survivors fled, realizing full well they couldn't defeat these Mages.

"Man...that was pretty tough," panted Droy, who had used a lot of his Magic Power during the fight. Scattered pieces of seeds and plants were everywhere, evident of his Plant Magic.

"I'll say," agreed Jet, stretching his legs. During the fight, one of the wolves managed to bite one of his legs, and he received a nasty wound from it, but due to his pride, there was no way he was going to tell Azure or Droy about that. He was going to have to heal this himself.

The serious and collected Azure blinked a few times before unsheathing her dao sword, then smiled at her two comrades as if nothing happened. "Hey, that wasn't bad! Hope you two are alright!"

"Just...give me a minute," panted Droy, weakly raising his hand.

"Hey, how come you never used any of your magic back there?" questioned Jet, curious. During the fight with the wolves, while Jet and Droy used their own Magic to defeat their opponents, not once have they seen Azure use any of her Water Dragon Slayer magic. They only saw her fight with her sword or with her martial arts skills, but that's it.

"Hmm? I want to save up my Magic just in case a tough opponent comes by!" responded Azure happily. "Hey, is it alright if I scout ahead? I promise I won't go too far!"

"Fine, fine. Whatever," said Jet, shooing her away with a wave of his hand. The dark-haired girl giggled before walking away, pushing past some vines and other plants as she hummed some sort of song.

Droy let out a sigh, looking down at the ground. "...In a way, she reminds me of Levy."

"Hey, I thought I told you several times not to bring up the past anymore."

"...Right, sorry."

"GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!" Out of nowhere, Azure came running back, the grin on her face indicating something happened. "I found it! I found the ruins!"

"Eeh?! That quick?!" exclaimed Jet in disbelief, unable to comprehend the fact that the girl found the ruins this quickly.

"Yeah! It wasn't that hard to find! Look, I'll even take you guys there! Follow me!" Grabbing their arms, Azure practically started dragging the two full grown men with her arms, making it a while to reach the ruins.

When they finally arrived, the ruins were like any other ruins; destroyed, ancient, and in turmoil. Broken small buildings laid around along with rubble scattered around the ground in pieces. The only building nearly intact was the main temple, where inside, the treasure was somewhere located there.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!" perked up Azure happily before sprinting inside the temple, as if competing for a race.

"Wait, Azure!" exclaimed Jet, reaching his hand out for her. "This place could be filled with-"

"GAAHH! SPIKES!"

"...Traps."

* * *

_Later, at around sundown... _

"Thanks, Jet! For a second, I thought I was a goner there!" thanked Azure happily as she skipped ahead of her group. While they were in the broken down ruins, they had gotten lost or arrived at dead ends several times, and sometimes some traps. The last time they arrived at a trap, Azure nearly fell into a hole if it hadn't been for Jet's speed and Droy's Plant Magic that saved her.

"Flattery's not going to get you anywhere, Azure," sighed Jet, rubbing his temples out of stress.

"Hey! Not need to get all upset!" Azure turned around and continued walking backwards, facing both Jet and Droy. "Oh, and you were a great help too, Droy!"

"How in the world did you manage to get lose in a straight path anyways?" asked Droy. "It's not like you're new at this."

"Yes, but even people makes mistakes sometimes!" the girl replied, grinning.

"It seems to me you make mistakes A LOT," Jet mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that!" A that moment, Azure stepped on some sort of panel, the sound of triggering something occuring seconds later.

"You idiot! What did you do?!" shouted Jet, rushing in front of her, panicking.

"H-hey! How should I know?!"

Out of nowhere, a huge dog-like beast baring sharpened jaws with drool dripping down its hungry jaws and standing on all four large paws popped out. It was snarling at them before licking its lips.

"AAAAAHHH! MONSTER!" both Droy and Jet screamed before making a run for it. Only Azure remained, and instead of running or backing off, she walked closer to the monster.

"Hey, big guy! Say, if you don't attack me, I won't attack you back, alright?" Azure asked, winking brightly at the monster.

**"RRRRAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" **The monster's response was a roar to Azure's face, spittles getting all over her face and hair.

"Yuck!" Azure wiped away the spittles on her face and shook her head several times, sticking her tongue out. "Alright, you asked for it!" The second after saying that, her eyes turned dead cold and solemn. She unsheathed her dao sword and commenced the first attack on the monster.

As Droy and Jet were running, with Jet being way faster, Droy glanced behind his shoulder and all around him before realizing they were missing someone. "Wait! Where's Azure?!"

Jet screeched to a stop, also realizing the problem about the lack of a third member. "Gah! You're right! Wait, could she still be back there?!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...WE GOTTA GO BACK!" both Droy and Jet cried out before turning back the way they came and rushing to save their friend.

Meanwhile, Azure was still clashing with the monster, the several slash scratches on the monster's body and the small, but visible dirt marks around Azure's body proving so.

Continuing their battle, the monster wasted no time charging at Azure head on, causing her to somersault out of the way while simultaneously landing a swift blow at one of the legs. It wasn't much, but did manage to create another small scratch at the monster's legs.

Both wasted no time charging at each other once more, but when Azure stabbed her dao sword forward in the exchange of blows, the weapon gets caught between the monster's jaws, making it difficult for her to yank her dao sword out and for the monster to smash his jaws down.

"Chain Plant!" Seeds scattered around the monster's feet before growing into large vines. The vines tangled themselves to the monster, trapping and binding it as it struggled to move.

"Azure! Duck!" Instantly, Azure did as she was told while still holding onto her dao sword, feeling a swift wind past her head. In actuality, Jet had allowed Droy to go ahead ahead so he could trap the monster, then afterwards, Jet would jump in.

After leaping over Azure's head, Jet extended his leg forward to stomp on the monster's forehead as hard as he could. Considering how far he was running and his Speed Magic, along with his average skilled fighting techniques, Jet was able to shatter at least a small part of the monster's skull, It may have not been enough to kill it, but enough for the monster to release Azure's dao sword, fall on its back, and whimper in pain, unable to move due to the vines.

"A chance, Azure!" called out Droy, still trying to contain the monster with his Plant Magic. Azure nodded before leaping off the ground, stepping onto the wall for a second before launching herself off and stabbing the monster in the heart, where its vulnerable chest was shown. The monster howled in pain before falling limp, dead.

Azure stood up straight before yanking her dao sword out of the monster's chest, swinging it once to get the blood out before sheathing it back to its scabbard. She then turned to her two companions with a happy look, as if nothing happened. "Hey guys! Thanks for the assist, but I could have handled that guy by myself!"

While Droy was stunned that Azure wasn't scared that she was almost mauled to death, Jet was more mad than stunned. "You idiot! Why didn't you run away?!" he questioned, stomping in front of Azure.

"Hmm? Well, I don't really run away from fights, and I was more than capable of beating that monster," replied Azure cheerfully.

"You almost died!"

"Not really! I had everything under control! Well, you guys helped, so the credit falls on all three of us!"

"That's not the point!" yelled Jet. "Unlike you, me and Droy are far more superior and more serious about mission, and people have to listen to their superiors!"

Droy seemed to realize where this was leading. "Oi, Jet! Calm down a bit-"

"No! She needs to hear this!" Jet turned back to Azure, who was surprisingly listening to every word. "Every dangerous mission has problems, and even a small mistake could cost you your life! So stop being so carefree and childish in these sort of situations and just grow up already!"

"Jet!" cried out Droy, glancing at both his friends one by one. "You could have said it in a mild manner!" He twisted his head towards Azure, who was silent and had her eyes hidden under her bangs. "A-Azure? You alright?"

"Yup! Totally fine!" assured Azure, lifting her head happily. "Let's get going!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" called Jet. "Did you even hear a word I just said?!"

"Yeah! Don't worry, I completely understand! You just told me to stop being immature, right? Well, I'll try!~" she giggled. With that sort of tone, nobody would have believe that she just took that lecture and still feel better.

"Y-yeah! Let's get moving!" Droy pushed Jet ahead gently before whispering, "Hey, that was a bit rude, don't you think?"

"Well, she needed to learn that, even with the hard way," defended Jet.

As everyone kept exploring the ruins, unknown to Jet and Droy, Azure may have kept the happy look on her face, but her thoughts spoke otherwise. _'Calm down, Azure! Don't let your anger get the best of you!' _she thought to herself, sporting the same grin on her face as she cletched her fists tightly. _'In a way, they're right, but even so, it still hurts to hear that.'_

* * *

"Hey, look up there," called out Droy, pointing to a pathway that lead upwards. Determined to see the end of the pathway, the trio followed the pathway, and within minutes, it lead them to a huge area with several large portions of rubble laying around, as if a battle had occured here long ago.

The trio searched around, trying to find another entrance or pathway to move forward, but there wasn't a single path or even a small hole in the area. With her Dragon Slayer senses, Azure heard footsteps approaching, so she grabbed Droy and Jet and hid behind a huge rock, yanking them down with her.

"Hey! What are-"

"Shh."

"But-"

"SHHH!"

"Heh, so I went all out on that guy, but I kinda took it too far and killed him! Eh, not a big deal." Soon, a small group of people wearing purple mage-like robes, and two dressed like green heavily-armored knights entered the ruins, armed with swords/wands.

Droy sighed in relief. He had thought that a huge monster was coming, but it was only some mages. "See? Nothing to worry about."

"I'm not sure, Droy. They look suspicious. Let's wait and see what happens," Jet whispered to his friend, peeking through their hiding spot. They may be people, but one can never judge another simply by appearances.

"Still, I can't believe you went overboard. You should have at least left his body intact so we could take his stuff," one of the men from the ground commented.

"Yeah, but I doubt that he would have anything of use to us! We are Poison Emerald, after all!"

Jet and Droy fought back a gasp, their expressions shocked and horrified as they quietly gasped for breath. Azure, tilting her head, asked, "Who?"

"Poison Emerald! They're a really strong dark guild!" hissed Droy, who was losing it. "Aw man! This is bad!"

"Yeah! We can't handle a tough guild like that!" agreed Jet. "I don't want to do this, but we'll have to retreat!"

"Not to worry!" spoke up Azure with certain eyes. "As long as I'm here, you don't have to worry a thing! Besides, I've got a plan to beat those guys!"

"How?" wondered Droy, a bit interested, yet mostly scared.

"Well, I was thinking that I would go hide in a more secure spot, then shoot water bullets at those guys! Like, pow, pow! Pow!"

"I...was actually thinking that you might use your Water Dragon Slayer magic to wipe them all out in one go."

"But, if I did that, it would be really, really bad," Azure told Droy. "Because huge amounts of magic at once could shaken up the place, then we would have the whole ruins fall down on us thanks to our fighting."

"Hmm..." Jet thoughtfully considered the situation, then came up with a plan. "I got it! Azure, you go hide like you said, but use your Water Dragon Slayer magic on the two knights. While the other mages focus on you, me and Droy will step in and finish them off. Got it?"

"..." While listening, Azure eyed the dark mages, having a bad feeling about them. "Uh...can I make a change in the plans? I wanna try taking out the mages instead of the knights. I just don't like how they seem all evil and suspicious-like, you know?"

"I know they seem like that, but those knights are tough and it doesn't seem like my speed or Droy's Plant Magic would be enough to wipe them out," sighed Jet. "If they close in on both me and Droy, we're finished. The mages don't have any armor on, but it'll be a little more easier to take them on than the knights."

"...Alright then." Azure bent down and started crawling as fast as she could until she reached a hidden spot where she could take out the two knights with a certain spell she was planning. From behind the rubble she was hiding behind, she calculated the time it would take for the knights to reach this area. When she saw sight of them, she readied her magic.

Rotating her arm once, Azure created a blue Magic Circle before forming her hand into a gun, ready to aim as her expression turned deadpanned and serious.

"Water Dragon's Bullets."

Immediantly, several bullets of water fired from the Magic Circle while Azure made firing motions with her gun-shaped hand, as if she was wielding a gun. The water bullets accurately hit the two armored knights, and some of the water bullets managed to hit their foreheads, which had enough force to knock them out.

"What the hell?!"

"What happened?!"

"Over there!"

Knowing she was caught, Azure stood up quickly and made a run for it as the Poison Emerald mages started blasting spells at her. "Water Dragon's Shield!"

A barrier of water covers Azure's front as she continued running from the enemy mages, defending against a few spells since Azure is running while controlling the spell. Meanwhile, Jet and Droy prepared themselves for their surprise attack.

"Knuckle Plant!" The Poison Emerald Mages were taken off-guard when some seeds landed near their feet, puzzled by why random seeds would appear out of nowhere.

Unfortunately for Droy and Jet, one of the mages had casted a barrier spell in time, thus blocking the pkant-like punches that were meant for the Poison Emerald mages.

One of the dark mages spotted the two Fairy Tail wizards behind some rubble and pointed with his staff. "Hey! I spot some guys behind there! Get them!"

"Wait about the kid there?!" one of the dark mages asked, pointing to Azure, who was still deflecting some spells with her water shield while running.

"We'll handle those two guys! The rest of you take care of the boy!" ordered the leader of the Poison Emerald guild before concentrating on his magic.

For a while, the fight continued harshly, and Azure's team was obiviously losing due to the high amounts of spells Poison Emerald were casting and lack in numbers. Surprisingly, Poison Emerald knew lots of Wind and Earth Magic, and were fast at casting then, making it clearly impossible to get near. Droy's spells were blocked, and Jet couldn't get in close combat without being shredded. Azure was conserving her energy, continuously casting her Water Dragon's Bullets spell along with the water shield spell. If she cast any other powerful spells, she was afraid the ruins might give in and kill them all.

Eventually, Azure managed to regroup with Droy and Jet, who were struggling against their fight with the Poison Emerald mages. Knowing that they needed a better defensive fortress, even if it's not the best, Azure began transforming her magic power into water, the liquid surrounding her arm in a spiral formation.

"Water Dragon's Wave!"

Swinging her arm out, Azure released an average-level wave at the dark mages, and though the strong wave didn't knock them out, it was enough to knock them off their feet. Taking this chance, and with his Speed Magic, Jet quickly found a new, stronger fortress and rushed there as Azure and Droy followed him. Soon after, the mages started casting spells at their fortress, loud noises being heard repeatedly as cement and rubble were being destroyed.

"Azure! Are you okay?" Droy asked, worried. Azure just nodded her head, answering his question.

"We're in deep trouble," muttered Jet, gulping as sweat trailed down his forehead. "Those guys clearly outnumber us, and like Azure said, we can't afford to cast more powerful magic, or the ruins will collapse on top of us."

"But if we keep hiding, they'll outrun us in no time," reminded Azure, her tone serious. "Considering all the magic they casted, they should be running low by now. If we wait, there'll be our window of oppprtunity. Droy, support me with some defensive Plant Magic. I'll draw their attention and try blocking their attacks as much as I can. Jet, when you see your chance-"

"It's impossible," the Speed user whispered, scared. "They can still cast high level spells that can wipe us out. Dark guilds like them don't give a damn if these ruins collapse, as long as they get to kill someone."

"Even so, if they use huge amounts of Magic, they'll run out. We can still-"

"I told you already, we'll die if we go head on!" Jet took a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders. "How about we just surrender and give them all our things? It'll be a shame, but it's better than dying."

"Even if we do give them our stuff, there's no way they'll _not_ kill us afterwards," said Azure.

"And how do you know that?!" Now, Jet was losing his cool, and he didn't care. "They're obviously too powerful! They're a Dark Guild, they-"

"Then why don't you die?!" Angrily and aggressively, Azure grabbed the front of Jet's shirt and yanked him forward, forcing him to look at Azure's fierce eyes as her expression turned very serious and angry. "In situations like this, it's best to give it all you've got, not cower in fear like a stupid, dumbass, COWARD!"

Droy and Jet let out a small gasp, startled as they turned to each other. Not once have they seen Azure this angry, especially with the scary look she was giving them. But, at the same time, it caused them to step out of their fear and face what was going on.

"...You're right. Sorry," Jet quickly apologizing, releasing a breath as he relaxed his shoulders. "...I have a new plan. I'll distract the mages, and Droy, you support me. Azure, when it's time, strike back, but don't use a too strong spell."

"Jet! You can't be serious! You'll die! No, you'll be killed first!" protested Droy. "We-"

The plump man was interrupted when Azure swung her arm in front of his face, stopping him midsentence. "...Alright. We'll go along with your plan, Jet."

Gulping, Jet stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead before running towards the Poison Emerald mages, hollering a battle cry.

The Poison Emerald mages only smirked, confident in taking him out as they unleashed spells at Jet. As he was running, Jet was delivering blows to the non close-combat mages and managed to dodge a couple of the spells, but at last, a few wind spells and chunks of rocks hit his body, sending him flying.

"Holder Plant!" From the ground sprang out large, springy leaves, catching Jet just before his body could crash to the cement floor. In addition, the leaves began to lower his battered body until he was safely on the ground.

_'Nice job, Jet and Droy,' _thought Azure, stepping out of her hiding spot and confronting the injured Poison Emerald mages. _'I'll take it from here!' _

One of them had the galls to snicker at the serious-looking tomboy. "Oh look! A little boy is going to try and-"

"Water Dragon's Roar!" Quickly taking in a deep breath, Azure let out a powerful stream of water from her mouth, blasting every single dark mage member away. The force of her spell was enough to drive them away and defeat them at the same time, their unconscious, wet bodies falling to the ground. Since that spell wasn't exactly weak nor strong, the ruins was still in place.

Both Droy and Jet let out sighs of relief as they approached Azure from their hiding spots. At least now they wouldn't have to worry about the Poison Emerald members any longer.

"Azure, are you alright?" asked Droy, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Yup!" Azure twisted around and a grin formed on her face, assuring she was alright. "Huh? Hey, look over there!" She pointed to a huge hole in the wall, which possibly lead to a different path.

"That's weird. That was never there before," pointed out Jet.

"Maybe all the fighting and spells caused the path to open," suggested Droy.

"Let's hurry up then! I wanna see the treasure!" Impatiently, Azure ran ahead towards the new path, with Jet and Droy hurrying behind her and yelling at her to be careful.

At the end of the pathway, with the help of some torches that lit their way, the trio found a small and old treasure chest which seemed to be the item they were looking for. Opening it, they found a beautiful snowflake necklace with a gem in the middle.

"Ooh! Pretty!" commented Azure, eyes sparkling.

"Well, we should take the chest back with us. Our client did want this back after all," ordered Jet, closing the lid on the treasure chest. "Hopefully, with the reward money we get, it should be enough to cover this month's rent for the guild."

"I'll carry it," offered Droy, lifting up the light chest with both arms.

As soon as they reached outside in broad daylight, Jet turned to Azure, who was happily humming to herself a short tune. When he had yelled at her before, he did feel a bit bad about it, and wanted to apologize and also thank her for yelling at him and Droy before.

"Azure?"

"Yes, Jet?"

Jet sighed, bracing himself. "...Sorry about shouting at you before."

Instead of getting mad, Jet never expected her to laugh to wholeheartedly. "It's fine! Totally fine! Lots of guys used to tell me the same thing way before I joined Fairy Tail!"

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah! About 60 or over 100 people!"

Droy and Jet sweatdropped at the high amount. "I...hope you're being overexaggerated about that," mumbled Jet, shoulders drooping.

"Yeah, I know! I lost count, though. Mostly, Samuel tells me that all the time!" replied Azure cheerfully before counting her fingers. "Let's see...there was one time, and that other time, and now..."

"Okay. Okay. I get the picture," the Speed Magic user interrupted. "But, thanks though. For yelling at me and Droy. If you haven't brought us to our senses back there with the huge guild battle, we would have been wiped out!"

"Who?" Apparently, Azure didn't seem to know what he was talking about.

"Uh...Poison Emerald? The battle?"

"I know that battle, but I don't remember the whole yelling at you part."

"It was when you got angry?"

"...?"

"...When you called me a dumbass and told me to die?"

"Oh!" Azure snapped her fingers, happy she was able to remember. "Yeah, that! Well, you're welcome! Wow, this is the first time someone's ever thanked me for calling them a dumbass! I should do that more often! Droy and Jet the Dumbasses!"

"Yeah, don't do that," both Jet and Droy said in unison before walking off, leaving Azure alone.

"Hey, wait up!"

* * *

**Finally done with this chapter, which took me about a week or so to finish! I may have made Droy and Jet a bit OOC, but I don't know their personalities that well, alright? Read and review!**


	8. Hanami Festival Day Off!

**Heya, guys! A brand new chapter up and waiting just for you! Enjoy! And thanks, WhatifStoryTeller for helping me out on this chapter!~**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Azure-chan! Wake up, please! Samuel's already awake!"

"Mmm...five more minutes."

"But, Azure-chan, it's the blooming season of the cherry blossoms! We did plan on going on a picnic together, remember? I even baked you your favorite dangos!"

"Ooh! Really?!" Azure got up from her bed, throwing the bed covers off of her and zooming past Kinana, who had tried to wake her up. Knowing Azure, especially on this special day, Kinana got up and began climbing down the stairs to get ready herself.

According to the news, the Hanami festival was starting around the spring season, and the Fairy Tail members were allowed to take a few days off of work. Therefore, Kinana and Azure planned an all-girl picnic in Forest Valley, one of the places Azure discovered that had one of the most beautiful cherry blossoms while on a job one time.

Of course, both girls planned on inviting Laki too, but she had plans. Of course, Samuel respected their wishes and told Azure he was planning to spend time at the bookstore. Everyone else were probably going to hang out at the guild or do something else.

About an hour later of preparation, Azure and Kinana emerged from the guild's kitchen, holding a nice, warm picnic basket that both worked hard to make the food to put the food in.

Macao, Wakaba, and a few others were still hanging out in the guild as Samuel flew towards the two girls. "Hold on," the genius Exceed said, interrupting them. "I should warn you that Forest Valley has a lot of monsters, since it is the spring time, and lots of them wake up from hibernation."

"Don't worry, Samuel!" assured Azure, petting the flying cat on his hat. "We'll be alright! You know me! I'm super strong! I'll easily protect Kinana! Besides, this is girls only! No boys allowed!"

"Alright, but be careful. I did research on the monsters, and there is a 34% chance of you being wiped out from the monsters there."

"Samuel, I made your favorite lunch in the kitchen for later," said Kinana, trying to cheer up the cat. "Mushrooms sauteed in butter!"

"R-really?!" The thought of devouring his delicious, tendered food later on caused Samuel to drool, making Azure snicker. "I-I mean, I don't care! But thank you, anyways!"

"Samuel acts like a tsundere sometimes," Azure revealed to Kinana, who giggled at the cute, flustered face Samuel was making.

"You do too, Azure!"

"Do not!"

"How about we get going then?" suggested Kinana, grabbing Azure's hand and leading her outside the guild, where Azure's magic motorcycle laid near. Azure sat in front of her motorcycle as Kinana sat in the back, hugging the small tomboy's waist after both girls put on their helmets for safety.

"Bye, Samuel! See you later!" called out Azure, waving to her Exceed partner before strapping the SE-plug to her wrist and taking off at a fast rate, leaving dust behind.

In mere seconds, Azure and Kinana rode through town, and soon found themselves traveling down a long path, enjoying themselves. "Wooooo! This is so amazing!" cried out Kinana, enjoying the fast breeze as she embraced her friend's waist more tightly.

"I know, right?!" called out Azure, having fun herself. "Samuel hates it when I go too fast, like this!"

"Really? But I love it!"

"What? I can't hear you, Kinana!"

"I said, I love it!"

"Well-ACK! I swallowed a fly!"

* * *

_A few hours later... _

"*Gulp* *Gulp* *Gulp* Ahhh!" Gulping down the last contents of her third water bottle, Azure dug a small hole, smashed her useless water bottle to bits, placed the pieces to the hole, and buried it before standing up, fully refreshed.

After taking several pit stops near streams and rivers throughout the hours, Azure and Kinana just arrived at the Forest Valley, but decided to take a short break before proceeding to save up their strengths. Azure used a ton of magic power to reach this far due to using her magic power to drive her magic motorcycle, so she needed to restore her magic power as much as she could.

"Are you okay now?" asked Kinana, who was washing her hands in the cool stream.

"Yup! All ready to go! Let's do this, Kinana!" said Azure, all pumped up. Together, both of them traveled through the forests of the valley, approaching cautiously as Azure took the lead, given that she was the only available fighter. Whenever they encountered a monster, Kinana would hide behind a tree or something of the sort and watched as Azure took it out using her dao sword or martial arts skills.

Later, both girls managed to enter deeper and deeper into Forest Valley, but they were still a long ways to go to get to the infamous cherry blossom trees. Right now, Azure was currently facing a monster, who was close to death.

Azure continuously clashed blades with the sword-wielding lizard monster before finding an opening to finish it off without hesitation. As the lizard monster went down, Kinana noticed the bushes rustling, and when a small ogre monster appeared and charged towards Azure from behind, she shouted, "Azure! Look out!"

Turning to glare at the ogre monster with her sharp, cold eyes, Azure thrusted her dao sword forward several times as if wielding a rapier, which threw the monster back a bit. Taking this as an advantage, Azure charged at the weak monster before stabbing it up in the throat, killing it before sheathing her weapon.

"Kinana!" called Azure cheerfully, waving to her.

"Azure-chan! Are you alright?" asked Kinana, rushing towards her and bending down to examine her body. She gasped when she saw two bloody gashes on Azure's body, one on her cheek, and the other in her shoulder. "You're hurt!"

"That was sorta my fault," admitted Azure, rubbing the back of her head. "I underestimated the monsters here. Don't worry! These wounds won't slow me down! All we have to do is get water from the water bottles, and I can properly heal myself!"

"Um...you used up the last of the water bottles, remember?"

"Eh?! Seriously?!"

"Yes...It looks like we'll have to wait until we find another stream or another source of water. I'm sorry, Azure. I didn't bring my first-aid kit."

'It's fine! It's fine! I'm sure sooner of later, we'll find something!"

As the two girls continued to travel downwards the path, they spotted a small stream ahead, but at the same time, a group of wolves were standing by, drinking from the very same stream they intended to go to.

"Oh no," groaned Kinana. "We can't deal with that many wolves! It looks like we'll have to find another-"

"Men! Let's take care of these fiends once and for all!" A deep and loud voice bellowed. "Me, Ren, and Eve shall take care of these fellows! Hibiki, you stand back and back up us!"

"Yes, master!" Out of nowhere, a short man in a white suit and reddish-orange hair along with three more attractive guys in black suits appeared in strange poses.

"Who are they?" wondered Kinana, who couldn't help but think that those men, besides the short one, was very handsome.

"I don't know, but I don't care! I wonder if they're really strong!" said Azure, eyes sparkling while wondering what strengths these mysterious newcomers possess.

"MEN!" The short man raced ahead first as the ones called Eve and Ren followed afterwards, but he was quickly defeated by a single swipe from one of the wolves, causing him to be sent flying towards the trees.

_'That's how strong he is?! That's just plain weak!' _thought Azure and Kinana, stunned.

"Master!" cried out Eve, worried for the petite man's safety.

"How dare you hurt our master!" yelled Ren at the wolves as he readied his Air Magic. "Aerial Blast!" With the magic circle in front of him, a whirling tornado came out, encircling and taking out several wolves.

Ren's initiation on the wolves alerted the other available wolves, making them ready themselves for battle as they growled at their human enemy. Some of them charged forward and pounced off the ground, but now, it was Eve's turn.

"White Fury!" Extending his arm forward, Eve generated and fired a snowstorm at the pouncing wolves, knocking them back and causing them to whimper.

"Eve! Ren! More wolves incoming!" yelled Hibiki, who was using his Archive Magic to gather info on these types of wolves. Eve and Ren, after hearing their companion's warning, jumped out of the way in time to avoid more wolves.

"Yosh! I think I'm gonna go help them!" said Azure, standing up straight and unsheathing her dao sword.

"Be careful, alright?" urged Kinana, receiving a nod from the younger girl. Taking her foot back, Azure readied herself to move as her face grew steadied and serious, and her hands clutched the hilt of the weapon tightly before she took off into the battlefield.

The first thing she noticed while running into the battlefield was how two wolves were sneaking up on Ren as he was busy taking care of the other wolves. "Look out!" she yelled, her feet pounding the ground as she ran faster. Once she got in close, she slashed at the two wolves, cutting them in half.

"Huh?!" Turning around, all Ren saw was some little kid wielding a sword. From the looks of it, it seemed that the two dead wolves in the ground were dealt with by him. "Who are you?"

"There's more approaching! Their weaknesses are the necks!" ordered Hibiki typing down things in his Archive Magic. Ignoring Ren, Azure ran past the young man to deal with the other wolves.

"Blizzard!" Moving his arms around, Eve began controlling a massive blizzard, striking multiple wolves at the same time. After the blizzard had passed, there were only a few wolves left in the area, perfect for Azure.

Leaping off the ground, Azure zoomed in onto the wolves, and didn't hesitate to slice their heads off, slashing several times to do so. After putting away her sword, Azure turned around to face her temporary allies happily.

"Hi! Nice job back-"

Suddenly, magical screens popped up in front of Azure before exploding, causing her to fly in the air momentarily before falling into the stream. Luckily, the explosion wasn't the sort that resulted in some sort of fire blast, but it still hurted for Azure, as well as shock Kinana.

"Ow!" Holding onto her hat, Azure glared at the three men. "What the hell?! What did I do wrong?!"

"Who are you?" asked Eve, a bit coldly. "We don't even know you. We were fighting those wolves when all of a sudden, you appeared out of nowhere. You're lucky Ren wasn't chopped to pieces!"

"Hey, I _saved_ him from being mauled by those wolves!"

"Stop it!" bursted out Kinana, standing in front of Azure and holding her arms out to protect her. "Azure-chan saved your friend! How could you attack?!"

"Oh my..." gasped Eve.

"Could it be...?" wondered Hibiki, astonished.

"A beautiful woman, lost in the middle of nowhere...?" muttered Ren, puzzled.

"Hello! What about me!" complained Azure, splashing around in the stream. Then, she realized she was in the water, making her think, _'Oh wait, I could use this time to heal myself.' _

"Men! Thanks to my clever plan, we have successfully defeated all the wolves! Good job!" praised Ichiya, doing the weird pose from before.

"Yes, master! Thank you very much!"

_'But you didn't even help!' _thought Azure, irritated as her jaw dropped. She shook her head and took a deep breath. She needed to concentrate on healing her wounds right now. Afterwards, she'll deal with those idiots who dared to attack her!

"Ahem!" Kinana had her hands on her hips and glaring angrily at the four men. "I want you to apologize to my friend, please!"

"Men! This beautiful woman had asked us a painful, but simple request! For her sake, let us oblige it!" ordered Ichiya.

"Yes, master!" The three more handsome men went up to Azure and spoke monotously, "We're sorry." _'Not.' _

_'They totally didn't sound sorry!' _thought Azure, as her wounds slowly started closing up.

"Azure-chan, are you alright?" Kinana asked, concern written all over her face.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Ahem! Excuse me, fair lady," called out Ichiya, bending down on one knee and clasping one of Kinana's hands into his own. "Forgive me and my men for not noticing your presence earlier and upsetting you. Had we had known before, we would have welcomed you with ease. Isn't that right, men?"

"Yes, master!" All three young men spoke in unison, bowing their heads.

"Allow me to introduce myself! I am Ichiya, leader of the Trimens! And these are my lovely students!" Ichiya snapped his fingers and ordered, "Men! Prepare to keep our lovely lady guest warmth!"

"Of course, sir!"

Azure watched in astonishment as the Trimens team started running around in a blur, somehow getting a picnic blanket and setting everything like some sort of romantic dinner. By the time they were finished, Azure's wounds were all healed, and she stepped out of the stream.

"Men! Where are your manners? You forgot to introduce yourselves!"

'We're so sorry, master!" apologized all three young Trimens members, bowing their heads as Kinana sat politely on the picnic blanket, surrounded by goods and candles.

"My name is Hibiki, young miss," introduced Hibiki, bending on one knee and handing a warm towel to Kinana. "Would you like to freshen up?"

"No, I'm okay, thank you."

"Hello, you look lovely today," complimented Eve, bowing his head in respect of the purple-haired woman. "My name is Eve. A pleasure to meet you."

'Oh! Yes, of course! My name is Kinana."

"Kinana, right?" Ren walked up to her, holding a rose, but looking away, as if embarrassed. "The name's Ren. Here, you can have this if you want, but, it's not like I got this for you."

_'Wow, someone's a tsundere,' _thought Kinana sarcastically as she gratefully accepted the rose. "Thank you, Ren-kun."

Azure, who had managed to wring out most of the water off her clothes, sat down next to Kinana, her mouth drooling at some of the goods provided at the picnic blanket. "Hey, Kinana! Can I have some of the goods if you don't want some?"

"Hmm? Yes, but don't eat too much. We still have our own picnic lunch to eat, after all."

"Yay!" Happily, Azure was about to snatch a chocolate treat, when her hand was slapped away by Eve rather harshly. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?"

"Those are for the lady only. You're not welcome to them, even if she says so," answered Eve, his tone as cold as before.

"Jeez, cold much?"

"Tis must be destiny that brought us here, Miss Kinana!" cried out Ichiya happily before turning to Azure, who looked at him curiously. "...You, not so much."

"HUH?!" Azure's jaw dropped, shocked that she wasn't getting the same treatment as Kinana. _'What did I do wrong to deserve this?!' _

"Thank you for your hospitality," thanked Kinana, glancing at the Trimens. "But, unfortunately, me and my friend have to go to a special spot in Forest Valley to enjoy this picnic we planned."

"Oh? A picnic?" wondered Eve.

"In that case, why not enjoy it here?" asked Hibiki.

"But with us, of course," muttered Ren quietly.

Azure let a small whimper escape her lips, looking down sadly. She was looking forward to having an all-girls picnic, but, if Kinana wanted to eat here, it couldn't be helped. Oh well, at least they could try to go on a picnic another time. Besides, Forest Valley was full of tough monsters anyways, so it would have been more dangerous if they stayed longer.

"No!" denied Kinana, shaking her head. "I-I mean, I'm sorry for speaking rudely, but I can't. Me and my friend, Azure, we worked hard to make our own picnic, and we were planning to meet in the special spot I mentioned earlier. Azure really wanted to spend time with me out of all people, and I don't want her efforts to go to waste."

As much as Azure was touched by her words, so were the Trimens. "T-that's...! That's so beautiful!" sobbed the Trimens, including Ichiya. "You truly are blessed, Miss Kinana!"

"E-eh?!" Kinana turned flustered red at the compliment they had told her. "N-no! I'm alright, really!"

Azure snapped her fingers, receiving a brand new idea just now. "Hey, hey! I got something! Kinana, how about we invite the pervert guys and the weird short guy to our picnic? Then, everyone's happy!"

"Hey! How dare you call us perverts!' shouted Eve.

"We adore and respect women! We would never, ever go pass that line!" agreed Hibiki before pausing. "...Unless they wish."

"Uh...sorry, but I forgot your names! That's why I called you that!" apologized Azure, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "But, it's also because it's true. Samuel always told me flirting guys like you are always perverted!"

"Azure-chan!" scolded Kinana. "You can't say something like that outloud! That's rude!"

"But I really forgot their names!"

"Still, you musn't insult them like that!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" said Azure, wanting to break up the argument. "If I knew their names, I wouldn't be calling them that, okay? Could you tell me their names, then?"

Kinana sighed, rubbing her temples. "Alright then." The older woman began introducing the Trimens and Ichiya herself, hoping that now, Azure would get it.

"Oh! I get it! Yeah! I think I got it!" Azure stood up and glanced around the Trimens. "Hey! I think I know you guys! You're from Blue Pegasus, aren't you?"

"Men! That's correct!" replied Ichiya, posing once again.

Azure started nodding her head. "Yup, yup! I totally get it now! I used Hibiki's name in a play before and tricked the audience!"

"Uh...what are you talking about?' Hibiki asked, confused.

"Well, it's over and done with, so why not tell ya? Me and some of my guild members took on this request to perform a play for the playwright guy, and since our posters weren't attracting people, I lied and used your name to get customers to come!"

_'THAT PLAY?! HE WAS RESPONSIBLE?!' _thought the Trimens, remembering the play that had occured not too long ago, along with the fake Hibiki who resembled Hibiki.

"Oh! You didn't answer my previous question, Kinana!" whined Azure, turning to her. "Should we invite the Trimens to our picnic or not?"

"Well, I supposed the more the merrier." Kinana looked at the Trimens and asked kindly, "Would you like to join us in our picnic? The place where we're going is a little bit far, but it's worth it."

"Of course we will! If it's an invitation from a lovely lady such as yourself, there is no way we could possibly refuse!" said Ichiya, with the Trimens nodding their heads. "We will gladly protect you with our lives!"

"...In case anyone's noticed, I'm still here," spoke up Azure, holding up a hand.

"Oh right. You. Whatever."

_'Is every single playboy from Blue Pegasus a jerk?! Gosh!' _thought Azure, disliking Blue Pegasus more and more. She had heard that Blue Pegasus was famous for being beautiful and attractive, especially with the Trimens, and that they despised other men, but this was nuts!

* * *

_Later... _

"Why are you guys called Trimens?"

"Huh?" Ichiya turned to Azure, puzzled by her question as he and the others were still walking in Forest Valley. "Whatever are you talking about?"

'Well, Tri means three, right? If there are four of you, why isn't it um...FourMens? Or something like that?"

"It's actually simple," answered Hibiki, who had placed an arm around Kinana's shoulders. "Me, Ren, and Eve are the only members of the Trimens. Our great leader, Ichiya-san, is far too superior to be considered a Trimen."

"...I don't get it."

"Of course you don't," said Eve, spatting it out like an insult. "That's how dumb boys like you are."

"Hey! First off, I'm not dumb!" pouted Azure, crossing her arms. "And second, how come you guys don't like me? We just met for crying out loud, and I haven't done a single thing to you guys! Except...maybe ruin Hibiki's reputation when I made one of my friends dress up like him and perform as him."

Hibiki shivered at the memory of the _hideous_ man back at the play. "...Please don't drag me into this."

Then, Kinana spotted a huge sakura tree on top of a hill, not too far away. "Look over there! Azure, is that the spot you were talking about?"

"Huh?" Azure ran past the Trimens to Kinana's side before squinting her eyes. "Yeah...yeah! That's the place! Totally!"

Ichiya, who had been spraying him with perfume for about the hundred time, sniffed the air and realized something was wrong. "Wait, something's wrong. Men, prepare for battle! Miss Kinana, don't worry! We'll protect you!"

Puzzled, Azure sniffed the air, relying on her Dragon senses. Ignoring the infuriating perfumes that gave her a headache, she did nothing something amiss and heard something getting closer...and closer...

"Hibiki! Look out!" Without hesitation, she ran towards Hibiki and tackled him to the ground with all her strength, just in time to save him from a sort of piercing blow that came from underground. Both rolled around the ground for a bit before coming to a stop, with Azure wrapping her arms tightly around Hibiki to save him from whatever surprise attack came.

"Hey! What are-?!" Just when Hibiki was about to scold her, he was also about to shove her off by grabbing hold of her waist. However, when he touched her waist, he felt softness and curves that no boy should ever have.

It didn't take him long to realize Azure's real gender.

"What is that?!" gasped Eve as he and his fellow comrades stared at the large humanoid bull monster that was wielding a heavy axe. Smoke huffed out of his nostrils, and his red glowing eyes stared at all of them before letting out a battle roar. He was called a Minotaur, part man, part bull.

"Men! We must prepare for battle! Miss Kinana, don't worry! With my parfum, I shall protect you!' declared Ichiya, in a weird pose again.

"Kinana! You have to get away from the battle!" shouted Azure, getting up from Hibiki.

"O-Okay!" Looking around, Kinana found a tree and slowly began climbing it using the branches until she managed to make it halfway to the top so she could see what was going on. Ichiya stood near the tree as some sort of guard for Kinana.

Then, the Minotaur brandished his huge battle axe above his head, ready to bring it down.

"Everyone, scatter!" ordered Hibiki, standing up and running out of the way. At that moment, the other current fighters, Azure, Ren, and Eve split to the left and right, creating a huge gap. The blade of the axe swung down with tremendous strength and created a shock wave which cut in a straight path, passing through the gap violently.

"What strength!" gasped Eve, stunned by the monstrous strength the Minotaur possessed.

"Yeah, but let's finish him off!" Azure proclaimed, drawing her blade before turning serious and silent, as usual in battle.

Hibiki began typing around using Archive Magic, scanning the monster and glancing side by side. "I might be able to find his weakness, if you give me time!"

"Then, let's do this!" yelled Eve, getting into an attack position. "White Fang!" Swinging both arms into a clawing-like position, Eve conjured up a large Magic seal which summoned forth a clawful of snow that headed straight towards the Minotaur.

However, the Minotaur used the blunt side of his battle axe to try blocking the snow spell, spreading snow everywhere. Either the magic spell wasn't strong enough, or the battle axe was much more tougher than it looked, but soon enough, the magic spell dispersed and got canceled.

"It's my turn!" deemed Ren, running straight towards the Minotaur. "Aerial Shot!" Gathering air around him, he used the air's force to also collect large rocks and even a large tree nearby before sending them flying at the Minotaur, who easily slashed them away with a swing swing of his heavy battle axe.

The Minotaur swung his weapon downwards, causing Ren and Eve to try to fall back in order to dodge. However, they couldn't evade it completely in time and were just knocked down by the shockwave. Quickly, the monster swung his second strike towards the two as both fallen men held up Magic Seals for defense.

Letting out a cry, Azure flung herself forward as fast as possible, using the cold fear of death in her body as a mental boost for speed. Her blade barely managed to deflect the heavy weapon in time, and she felt a painful impact on her small body as the shockwave hit her.

As sparks flew off the two weapons, the monster's battle axe hit the ground with a loud rumble, as if trying to cause a small earthquake. Azure was already out of breath from blocking the near-death strike from the Minotaur, and together with Ren and Eve, they jumped back to avoid another shockwave.

"Hibiki! Did you finish analyzing the monster?" called out Ren.

"Nearly! Just give me a couple more seconds, and I'll have the weakness down in no time!"

"Then, I'll block the attacks," offered Azure, a sharp glint in her eyes as she bent down and prepared to charge. "Ren, Eve, you two take the offensive."

"Wait-"

Not bothering to listen to Eve, Azure jumped off the ground and rushed at the Minotaur, who gripped the hilt of his battle axe to prepare against his small foe. Luckily, the monster's attacks were pretty slow, but deadly, so with her small body, Azure dodged a lot of his attacks and managed to deliver a few strikes to his body.

As Azure blocked or dodged the Minotaur's attacks, Eve and Ren were using their magic to deal damage to the monster, which seemed to work, for a time. The trio managed to enrage the Minotaur even more, because now his attacks were mostly shockwaves that could slice anyone. Azure could use her magic, which could be a little more than enough to defeat the monster, but she wanted to physically become stronger, so she'll save her magic for the battle later, if worst comes to worse.

Time passed, and still, the Minotaur was still standing, and the Mages currently fighting were exhausted and doing everything they can to stop it. While Eve and Ren did their part, Azure concentrated fully on defending or parrying away the attacks, but she didn't really have much defensive skills, compared with her high dodging skills, so she was taking more of a beating than the rest of her comrades.

Then, Hibiki spoke up, his loud voice echoing throughout the battlefield. "I got it! The weakness is the top of the head! Hit the head!"

"But with something like that swinging a dangerous weapon, it's almost impossible to get there without being sliced!" called Eve, a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"That's why I need you, Azure, and Ren to particpate!" continued Hibiki. "Eve, distract the monster with your magic. Ren and Azure, when he's being distracted, charge up to the monster, then Ren, I want you to use your Air Magic on Azure, who'll add the finishing blow."

"Hey, you sure this'll work?" asked Ren, a little doubtful about this plan.

Hibiki only responded with a confident smirk. "Since when have my calculations been wrong?"

"It's coming!" called Azure, getting into a fighting stance. Just like she said, the Minotaur began his charge at the Trimens and Azure, ready to swing another deadly swing from hix axe once more.

"White Out!" Concentrating on his magic, Eve started enveloping the area around him wtih a blizzard, trying to block the Minotaur's sense of sight, which seemed to have worked, but wouldn't last for long since this spell wasn't exactly a long timed spell.

"Let's do this, even if you're my love rival!" yelled Ren as he and Azure advanced on the blinded Minotaur. If Azure was fooling around and being her cheerful, usual self righ tnow, she would have complained about being a love rival, but now, she was her calm, cold self in battle, and ignored any comments about her.

Once in range, Ren bent down, using his Magic to create his Magic Seal underneath Azure, who was preparing herself to attack. "Go! Aero!" With a shout, Azure kicked the ground at full forced and jumped, while at the same time, the Air spell activated, giving her a boost into the air. Azure regained herself and started performing a mid-forward somersault while still in the air, but her cap fell off, revealing her long, dark hair.

It was as if time had stopped, and the sun began shining on her small, but glorious radiance. Her long, midnight dark hair swayed and flowed with the winds, and the dark color of her hair shined within the bright light of the sun. She was like a small, but shooting star of darkness, prepared to strike down any enemy, and everyone was stunned by the hidden beauty of the tomboy who always disguised herself as a boy.

Paying no attention to anyone who viewed her, Azure changed her grip on her sword to a backhand and thrusted her body and sword forward as the Minotaur now regained vision. Hearing a plunging sound, everyone glanced up to see Azure on top of the Minotaur's head, her sword deeply implanted in the monster's skull.

Changing from a fierce, serious look to a happy, outgoing one, Azure sported a grin as she waved to the others. "Hey, guys! I did it! Look! I-whoa!" Her victory didn't last long as the dead Minotaur began to sway back and forth before starting to crash down to the ground.

Azure braced herself for the impact, but felt a swoosh and heard nothing for the Minotaur's crash. She tried to feel herself for pain from the crash, but nothing. She opened her eyes and realized that Eve was holding her in his arms safely.

"Are you okay, Azure-chan?" greeted Eve brightly as he placed her on her feet.

"Yup, yup! Thanks!" thanked Azure, petting him on the head before skipping away to the Minotaur. Eve's cheeks redden and thought back on blissful thoughts at what Azure just did.

_'She patted me! She totally did!' _thought Eve, already in Lala land. Azure walked up to the bleeding skull of the Minotaur's and tried to pull her sword out since she already implanted it too deeply.

"Here, allow me to do it for you," offered Ren, placing a hand on her shoulder. He gently grasped her hands away from the hilt of the sword and began pulling it himself until the bloody weapon was out. Then, he got out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off before handing the sword to Azure.

"Hey, thanks!" Sheathing her sword, Azure ran up to Kinana, who just now arrived back on land thanks to Hibiki's assistance. "Kinana!"

"Az-" Before she could say anything, the purple-haired woman was tackled to the ground by the tomboy, who giggled and grinned in excitement.

"We won! We totally owned that monster! Hehe!"

Kinana sighed in relief, wiping away any sweat due to stress and fear of losing more of her friends. "Yes...we did it."

"Azure hime-sama?" called out Hibiki, who bent down and handed over Azure's fallen cap. "I believe you dropped this."

"Yay! My favorite cap! Thanks, Hibiki!" Placing her long hair in somewhat a bundle and hiding it under her cap again, Azure pointed to the huge cheery blossom tree and shouted, "Let's go eat lunch now! Go, go!" Grinning, Azure ran towards the huge tree, now wanting to wait for anyone.

Kinana stood up, sighing at the girl's endless supply of excitement and impatientness as she followed after her. "Alright, hold on, Azure!"

"Men! Let us follow them!"

"Yes, master!"

* * *

_Several minutes later, during lunch... _

"Hey, may I ask you something, Azure-chan?" asked Eve as he generously poured more tea into Azure's cup. After arriving under the beautiful cherry blossom tree, everyone, mostly the Trimens, set up the picnic and began eating together.

"Hmm? Whaf is et?" Azure, who was gobbling down her favorite dangos, asked.

"Azure-chan, please talk after swallowing your food," Kinana scolded gently.

"*Gulp* Sorry. What did you need, Eve?"

"Well, I was wondering, and please excuse my rudeness, why were you dressed like a boy?"

Blinking her eyes in confusion, Azure shrugged her shoulders. "What's wrong with that? I like wearing boy clothes. Girly clothes like skirts and dresses are...eh."

"Oh! That just occured to me, men!" Ichiya gasped, snapping his fingers. "We haven't even properly apologized to Miss Azure for all the cruelty we caused her!"

The other Trimens gasped also in realization before kneeling in front of Azure and bowing their heads. "We're so sorry!"

"Huh? What are you apologizing for?"

"We didn't know you were a girl, Azure hime-sama!" explained Hibiki, raising his head.

"I am so ashamed of myself," muttered Ren.

"Wah! We were so rude and mean to you, Azure-chan!" cried out Eve.

"It's...fine?" assured Azure, petting each of them in the heads.

"Tell me something, Miss Azure," spoke up Ichiya, sipping his cup of wine. "If you were a Fairy Tail Mage, why didn't you use magic to defeat that monster?"

"Oh, because I didn't want to waste any magic. I already used a bit too much on my magic motorcycle. Besides, I wanted to test it, and I use an awful lot of magic whenever I fight using my magic."

"Azure-chan!" Grasping her hands, Eve's eyes sparkled. "Come back and visit Blue Pegasus whenever you want! We'll welcome you with happy arms!"

"That's right!" spoke Hibiki and Ren in unison.

"Hmmm...okay! Can I bring my friends along too?"

"Of course!" said all the Trimens. "...As long as they're female, of course."

"Really?" wondered Azure, making a cute pouty face. "Laki and Kinana's okay, but I wanted to invite Romeo and the others!"

"Romeo?! He must be a love rival then!" declared Eve with fire in his eyes.

"Haha...no," chuckled Kinana nervously, sweatdropping. _'Let's just hope he never meets Romeo-kun.' _

Later on, after saying their goodbyes to the Trimens and Ichiya, Kinana and Azure happily made their way back to the guild after eating such a satisfying lunch. "By the way, Azure-chan? I think that Eve has a crush on you," teased Kinana, giggling.

"A crush? Why does he want to crush me?"

The older woman sweatdropped, completely forgetting how oblivious Azure could be sometimes. "Um...Azure, I mean that he probably likes you."

"Now I'm confused!" said Azure, tilting her head. "He likes me, but he wants to crush me? That doesn;t make sense!"

"*sigh* Never mind."

* * *

**Finished at long last! It'll be a while before the 6th annual Grand Magic Games, so stay tune! Don't worry, after a few more chapters, I'll announce the 6th Grand Magic Games! Read and review!**


	9. Unexpected Reward

**I'm back with a bit of more Fairy Tail! Since some side characters are rarely seen, I decided to put them back to the spotlight!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Waah! Why did our request location had to be somewhere cold?" complained Azure, shivering as she and Samuel walked through the snowy town, Fimbulvetr, where they picked a request that told them to go to Fimbulvetr so that their client could explain more details about their request.

**Request: My company wishes to cut down some trees in an island a bit far away from where my company's from. However, I have no idea if the island is inhabited with monsters, and none of my members are monsters, so, I ask any Mage to help me! For further details, please meet at the D.M.O. building in Fimbulvetr. Reward: 10, 000 Jewels. **

"Well, the D.M.O. is a medical company, and Fimbulvetr is the perfect place to study and research medicine, so it would be kinda obvious," replied Samuel calmly.

"By the way, Samuel, what does D.M.O. stand for?"

"Deforestation Medical Operatives. It's one of the greatest medical companies in the world. The company cuts down a few trees from different regions to develop new medicine, and their main HQ is in Fimbulvetr."

Since Fimbulvetr was located in a cold region, they had to wear warmer clothing, though Samuel had to wear a small kid-sized fur coat, considering how small he was. Azure ended up with light winter clothing due to complaining that fur coats were much heavier, which was a fact. However, light winter clothes were less effective against the cold than heavy fur coats. Azure's hat wasn't suited for cold places, so she had to leave it at home and wear her jacket's hoodie, which at least had some fur to it.

"Hey, is this place it?" Azure wondered, pointing at the largest building she's seen in town. Samuel glanced at the request's coordinates and nodded his head. "Great! Let's get moving!"

Due to the busy hours and busy employees, Azure and Samuel had to wait a while before their meeting with the president of the company began, considering how famous the place was. Eventually, they were told to meet on the 12th floor, where the president's CEO office was located.

The president of the company was writing down some paperwork when his front door opened. He glanced up from his paperwork to see a young hooded boy and a flying cat enter.

"Hello, Mr. Pre-"

"Azure! You were supposed to knock first! That was rude!"

"Oops! You're right! Sorry! Let me start over!"

Both intruders quickly closed the door, making the president wonder what just happened before his door was knocked. Rolling his eyes, he called out, "Come in."

When Azure and her Exceed reentered the room, Azure pulled down her hoodie, her long dark hair cascading down her back as she rubbed her head sheepishly. "Oops! Sorry about that, Mr. President!"

"Next time, knock before you enter!" scolded Samuel, crossing his arms.

"Well, I'm sorry!"

"Are...are you two Mages?" asked the president, sweatdropping at the two's little argument. They couldn't possible be Mages, it just wasn't possible! They were just kids-Well, the girl seemed like a kid, and the other flying cat seems to be a Mage since he can fly, and last time he checked, cats don't fly.

"Huh? Yeah! Totally!" Taking off her left glove, Azure presented the Fairy Tail insignia on her left hand happily. "I'm from Fairy Tail, and so is Samuel! We're here for the request!"

"Fairy Tail, huh?"

Honestly, the president himself was surprised that Fairy Tail would send two young people like them to deal with this sort of mission. It was true Fairy Tail was possible the weakest guild in all of Fiore, but lately, there were rumors that Fairy Tail's recruited two new strong people. Could they be it...?

Samuel noticed the president's uneased and theorized that he was worried. "There's no need to worry, Mr. Hod. We may not look like it, but we are pretty strong. My calculations state there is an 80% chance we will succeed in this mission."

Mr. Hod, president of the D.M.O. company, perked up when his name was heard. "Oh? You know my name? Then, I guess we don't need any introductions then. Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't ask for your names."

"I'm Azure! Nice to meet you!" replied Azure, nodding her head. "And my flying cat here is Samuel! He's way smarter than me, but with the two of us together, we're practically unstoppable!"

"I see. But in order to do this request of mine, you two both have to be skilled and very strong Mages, understand?" said Mr. Hod a bit sternly.

"Yes, sir! We're plenty strong for that!"

Mr. Hod nodded in understandment. "Very well. Like I wrote in the request, we recently discovered an island surrounded by a large lake, only the lake wasn't frozen. Normally, lakes in frozen regions are frozen solid, but this one wasn't. Normally, I would send a party to go check out the island, but my men aren't fighters, so we requested any Mage to come along for a high price."

"I see. So, you want us to basically check if the island is dangerous or not," said Samuel. "What do we do if we do meet some monsters there?"

"If you have to, you can fight them," answered Mr. Hod. "I also want you to drive them away, so that when my men start to cut the trees there, the monsters won't interfere. It's possible we might have to hire more mages to help us out of self-defense when the time comes."

"But, you'll try not to hurt the monsters there, right?" asked Azure, concerned. She might not care about all monsters, but even monsters need a home to return to, and would gladly risk their lives defending it.

"We'll try not to kill the monsters there when we start working, but it's less likely."

"Oh...alright then. We'll at least check out the place." Azure wasn't completely satisfied about this request, since there was a high possibility there might be monsters there.

* * *

_Much later... _

"Azure! You're steering the wrong way!"

"Gah! Then it's this way?!"

"No! Now we're going in circles! Ugh, let me handle the rowing!"

"But you said yourself that you wanted to save your Magic Power for battle, and using your Battle Form takes up Magic Power! You said you were saving up for later! Let me handle this!"

"Gah!"

According to Samuel and the map, the island's location wasn't too far away, but Azure and Samuel had to rent a small boat to swim across a different lake, walk through a small forest, and they would finally appear near the unfrozen lake where the island was located.

Luckily for the Fairy Tail Mages, the island's location wasn't very far, about an hour or so to get there. Unfortunately for them, Azure was really terrible at rowing the boat, especially in a lake where chunks of ice were around, so if they made a mistake, the boat would crash and they would fall to the cold water, not that it would be any harmful to them, but they didn't want to get wet, especially when it was snowing a little.

When they finally reached the other side of land, Samuel and his companion panted heavily as they dragged their rented boat out of the water using some rope. They still had use for the boat, since it was needed for when they started to travel to the targeted island.

Under normal circumstances, since Azure is a Water Dragon Slayer, her lungs made it capable for her to breath underwater, and she could easily cast a water spell that could make Samuel breath underwater temporarily. However, in icy regions, there was a chance to get frozen underwater, and Azure and Samuel didn't want to test that out.

"Whew! We finally made it to land!" cheered Azure, throwing an air punch to the air happily. Even more, the small snowstorm seemed to have stopped, which makes their vision forward much clearer.

"Don't celebrate just yet. We still have to cross the forest, then get to the island," reminded Samuel, sighing after their little rowing adventure.

"Hmm? Do you hear that?" Hearing an eerie sound, Azure learned forward, trying to catch more and more sounds with her dragon slayer senses. "It sounds like...some sort of fight is going on."

"Well, ignore it. It's not our problem to begin with," said Samuel, shaking his head.

"Actually, it's in the direction we're headed, down in the forest." Azure pointed to the white-snowed covered forestm where she heard the sounds of battle coming from. She sniffed the air and spoke outloud, "It's faint, but I could smell two scents, and some monsters. So let's go help them, Samuel!"

Not waiting for his answer, Azure ran ahead, with the small Exceed running after her.

"Hold on, Azure! You don't even know who these people are!"

"That doesn't mean I can't spy on them!"

'Wha-?! You're resorting to spying!"

'Hey, if I can't help them, might as well spy on them, right?" As they were running, Azure looked over her shoulder to flash Samuel a grin before crashing straight into a tree.

Samuel facepalmmed. _'That idiot,' _he thought before rushing to Azure's aid as she fell to the ground and rubbed the red spot on her forehead, muttering "Ow, ow, ow..."

* * *

"Ice-Make: Eagle!" Several eagles made of ice spreaded around and shot themselves at some monsters, finishing them off.

"Whoa! That is so cool!" gasped Azure. She and Samuel had arrived at the battlefield not too long ago, and in order not to be seen, they used Samuel's wings to fly, and he was easily lifting up Azure by her small arms as they watched the battle from above.

Apparently, the two Mages who were dealing with the monsters were two young man. One had some sort of dog face, and was completely shirtless, though neither Samuel and Azure knew why, considering the cold weather. He seemed to have the ability to elongate and sharpen his nails, an smiliar ability that Samuel has. The only difference was that Samuel could only achieve the sharpness ability in his Battle Form, and his claws could shoot lasers as well.

The other Mage happened to be a handsome, cold-looking, silver-haired man who specializes in Ice-Make Magic, a magic that Azure knew that her possible brother, Gray Fullbuster, had. He seemed much more powerful than the dog-looking person, and very cool-headed in battle as well.

"Yeah! We defeated the monsters!" shouted the dog-looking person, triumphant in their victory.

"Don't rest yet, Toby," said the silver-haired man. "We still have to defeat some sort of huge monster that the people saw. They said it was around some sort of unfrozen lake."

"I know, I know! Jeez, these monsters are way weaker than I am!"

"Did you hear that, Samuel?" spoke up Azure. "Those guys said something about a big monster near some unfrozen lake, and we're going to that unfrozen lake anyways, so we should help them!"

"Azure, this is their problem! Not ours."

"But you know what they say: It'll be like killing two birds with one stone!"

"Azure, you don't even know if these people are good or not!" exclaimed Samuel. "I mean, just look at that weird person over there!" He was addressing to the man named Toby, who was still talking to the silver-haired man. "For all we know, he could be a stripper!"

Pouting, Azure crossed her arms. "Would a stripper really be out in the cold, half-naked?"

"...You may have a good point, but he's still possible a stripper!"

"And anyways, I-" Toby stopped arguing with his own silver-haired companion when he heard more loud voices coming from above. Glancing up, he saw a young girl flying in the air with wings and yelling about something.

"W-WHAT THE HELL?!"

Frowning, the silver-haired man also looked up and his eyes widen at the sight of the girl. He did notice a flying cat, more accurately, an Exceed, was holding onto her, explaining the reason why the girl was flying, but something else was of importance here.

The girl resembled a lot of like Gray, besides her long hair and very few feminine features. She had the same hair color, eye color, and some of the same facial features that Gray had. She was like a child-like, female version of Gray.

Hearing Toby's loud outburst, Samuel and Azure stopped arguing to see what was going on, only to realize that they were caught by the two Mages.

"...Damnit! We were too loud!" Samuel complained. "Now, what to do-"

"Hi!" called out Azure, waving at them. "We saw the whole battle! We're sorry for spying on you!"

"Azure!"

"Wait, they were spying on us?!" yelled Toby, more shocked than angry.

"What were you thinking, you idiot?! You don't just speak up and tell them that!'

"But it's the truth! Besides, they don't seem dangerous!"

Sighing, the silver-haired man, using both arms, began casting a spell. "Blizzard!" A much larger snowstorm than before started storming down around Azure and Samuel's area in the skies, and with the strong winds blowing their way, the two Fairy Tail mages fell to the ground, the snow softening their fall.

"Owie..." whined Azure, rubbing her arm as Samuel groaned, trying to stand.

Wasting no time, the Ice Mage prepared another one of his spells. "Ice-Make: Cage!" Full regaining consciousness, Azure and her small Exceed friend found themselves trapped in a cage made of ice.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why are we in a cage?! What did we do?!" exclaimed Azure, grabbing onto the icy bars. "Yikes! That's cold!"

"Calm down," assured the silver-haired man, bending down to her level. "I'll let you and your friend out, if you answer my questions."

"How'll we know that you'll keep your word?" questioned Samuel suspiciously.

"Please, if I wanted to, I would have taken the advantage of you two being distracted and finish you off up in the skies."

"..." Samuel grew silent, having no comment to counter that statement.

"Good. Now that I have your attention, who are you two?"

Before Samuel could say anything, Azure blurted out first. "I'm Azure, and this is my friend, Samuel!"

"Alright. Do you two belong to a guild?"

"Yup! Fairy Tail!" To prove it, Azure happily removed her glove to show her Fairy Tail insignia before turning Samuel around and lifting up his jacket and shirt, showing his Fairy Tail insignia as well.

"Gah! Azure!" Glaring at her, Samuel pulled his clothes back down, slightly embarrassed. "You don't just lift up clothes to prove who you are!"

"Sorry!"

"Huh, interesting," said the silver-haired man, rubbing his chin while in thought. _'Fairy Tail wizards, huh? I did hear that they were slowly getting better and that more requests were sent to them. Though, I've never met these two, so they must be new to Fairy Tail.' _

"You're from Fairy Tail? The weakest guild in all of Fiore?" asked Toby, curious.

That proclamation was enough to get Azure all rifled up at the claw-wielding man. "Hey! Fairy Tail isn't weak! You better watch your mouth, doggy! I won't hesitate to attack you, even if you look like a dog!"

"I'm not a dog! But I look like one!" argued Toby, angrily arguing back.

"Then why admit it?" mumbled Samuel, sweatdropping.

The silver-haired man cleared his throat, catching Azure and Samuel's attention. "ANYWAYS, what were you doing here in this frosty region?"

Before Azure could answer, Samuel interrupted her, "If it pleases you, I will answer this question. We have an assignment here and we were simply passing through."

"Oh? What sort of assignment?"

"A request to the guild."

"Hey, cat! That didn't answer our question!" shouted Toby, irritated.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Azure spoke up, raising her hand and reverting the silver-haired man's attention to her.

"Yes?"

"We were supposed to go to an island surrounded by unfrozen water and investigate it to see if there are monsters or not!"

"Azure! Seriously?!" yelled Samuel, eye twitching in annoyance. "Why would you bother answering their questions?!"

"Because, they asked! Besides, if we didn't, we'd be stuck in this cage, and I just want to hurry up with our job so we can get out of this cold!"

"Your friend has the good idea," pointed out the silver-haired man. "Don't worry, I'll keep my word. Now, why were you spying on us?"

"To be honest, I didn't want to spy on you," answered Azure truthfully before pointing to Samuel. "Samuel made me. I wanted to investigate in the forest after hearing some weird sounds, then Samuel forced me into the skies and we watched you and doggy fight some monsters! You were pretty cool, by the way!"

"Okay, fine. One last question, do you know anything about someone named Gray Fullbuster?"

Samuel perked up at this question. "Hey, that's not really relevant to the questions you've been asking us!"

"I did tell you I would free you if you answered my questions, correct? So then-"

"Oh! That's easy!" said Azure, snapping her fingers. "I know Gray! I'm his little sister!"

"..."

"..."

"...WHAT?!" screeched Toby.

"At least, I think so!"

"What do you mean, you think so?" questioned the silver-haired man, calming down as his shock faded away pretty fast. _'No, that can't be right! Gray's parents died a long time ago, before Gray met me and Ur! Maybe she's just using his last name, or she's just confused? Anyways, I'll listen to what she has to say.' _

"Well, 'Fullbuster' isn't a very common last name, and Fullbuster is my real last name, so that's why I think Gray's my older brother!" replied Azure, acting like it was an easy question to answer.

"How do you even know it's your real name?" the silver-haired man asked.

"Oh! I have this letter that states my real name!"

Samuel seemed to realize what she was talking about. "Hey, Azure? Are you sure it's okay to show some stranger that note?"

"Totally!" Scrambling through her bag, Azure pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper before unfolding it as neatly as possible before trying to reach out to the silver-haired man through the bars. "After you're done reading, can you give it back?"

"Sure." Taking the piece of paper, the silver-haired man began to read it to himself, his eyes scanning through the neatly handwritten piece of paper despite it being crumpled seconds ago. He also noticed dried bloodstains on the paper, but he was still able to read it.

_**To anyone who finds my daughter,**_

_**My time is running out, and I cannot live for much longer. All I can hope is for someone to take care of my little girl. She was born a few months ago, and her name is Azure Fullbuster. If possible, could you find her father, Silver Fullbuster, so he could take care of her if no one is willing to take care of her?**_

_**Please, I beg a kind person to take care of my little girl. She's all I have left after Silver left. Please. Azure, know that I will always watch over you and love you, no matter what you become.**_

_**From, your dear loving mother, Akia.** _

_'Normally, I wouldn't believe a letter like this because she might have forged it,' _thought the silver-haired man, glancing at Azure as he handed back her letter. _'But given the bloodstains, I can tell those bloodstains are real. But, this doesn't make sense. Gray once told me his father's name was Silver. Maybe it's all some sort of coincidence?' _

"...Mister? Mister! Hello!"

"H-huh?" A bit startled, the silver-haired man turned to Azure, who was waving her hands around, trying to get his attention. "What?"

"Wasn't there more questions you needed to ask us? I'm getting colder and colder here!"

"No, I guess that's all. I don't think you and your friend are a threat."

Even though they weren't exactly a threat to the silver-haired man and his companion, Toby, Azure and Samuel weren't exactly trustworthy either, since they did meet for the first time. If Azure and her friend choose to ambush them, the silver-haired man was more than enough to take them on, depending on how strong they were. Given Fairy Tail's low reputation, the silver-haired man concluded they might not be too strong.

Samuel stood up from his seat. "You're finally letting us go? Finally."

"Oh!" Speaking up, Azure unsheathed her sword before saying, "You think you could stand back, mister? You too, doggy."

"I'm not a dog, damnit!"

Curious, and a bit cautious, the silver-haired man nodded before he and his friend stepped back, wondering what Azure was about to do. Azure bended her knees a little and took a stance with a grin on her face.

Letting out a cry, from bottom right to upper left, she diagonally slashed at the ice bars, following with a horizontal slash, then finally another diagonal slash, thus slicing the ice bars in front of her. Normally, slashes from swords wouldn't really have any effect to bars made of ice, since they were thick and tough. But, if someone was a master swordsman or at least, a skilled average one, like Azure, and with better concentration, they could slice through the ice-like bars.

"Gaaah! She sliced through the bars!" cried out Toby, shocked. The silver-haired man was a little taken aback by this as well, but more impressed and felt his trust for her increased, just a little bit. This was due because if Azure really wanted to escape, she could have done so already, but she stayed put and answered all of his questions patiently.

"...Azure."

"Yes, Samuel?"

"If you could slice through the bars, why didn't you do it before?!"

"Oh! I wanted to know what the mister had to say along with dog guy!"

"I'm not a dog for crying out loud!"

Samuel sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. Sometimes, he didn't understand his best friend, even though they've been together for a very long time. Turning to the silver-haired man, he asked, "Alright, what are you going to do to us now?"

"Nothing. If I wanted to fight you, I would have done do already," said the silver-haired man, crossing his arms.

"Mister, may I ask you something?" wondered Azure politely as she sheathed her sword.

"What is it?"

"What do you and doggy person going to do now?"

"I'm not a dog!"

"Hmm...I suppose we'll continue doing our mission."

"Oh! You mean the one where you had to go find and hunt down some strong monster that might be around the unfrozen lake?"

"...You eavesdropped, didn't you?" deadpanned the Ice mage.

"Yup!"

Samuel really felt like banging his head against a tree right now. If this kept up, they might not only deal with monsters, but also enemies. And already, Azure's already agitated the one named Toby. Knowing her, it probably wouldn't take long for Azure to make the silver-haired man angry as well.

"Ooh! I have a suggestion!" said Azure happily. "How about we team up? Me and Samuel are planning on going to the island with the unfrozen lake, and you two want to hunt down the monster near the lake, so it'll be like perfect timing!"

"No, Azure. I'm pretty sure we can handle this on our own," said Samuel, tugging onto her pants.

"But what if the monsters are super strong on the island? With Mister here, and doggy person, we might stand a chance!"

"For the last time, I'm not a dog!"

"Hmm..." The silver-haired man thought carefully about what to do. The monster they were requested to hunt down might be very powerful, considering the huge reward enlisted in the request, so allies might be good. "...Azure, how strong are you and Samuel?"

"We-"

"Nothing! We have nothing to say to you!" shouted Samuel, flying up and covering Azure's mouth with both his paws. "Why don't YOU tell us what type of Magic you have?"

"Fair enough," agreed the silver-haired man. "I did ask you all those questions first, after all. I specialize in Ice-Maker Magic."

"The same magic as Gray Fullbuster? Interesting..."

"Ha! I'm not telling you guys a thing!" scoffed Toby. "I'm not telling you anything about my Super Paralyzing Mega Jellyfish Claw technique!"

"You just did, doofus," stated Samuel, annoyed.

"Gah! How'd you figure it out?!" cried out Toby. "Grr...well, you'll never figure out the effects!"

"Mmph! Mmph!" Azure moved Samuel's paws away from her mouth and excitedly answered, "They paralyze people!"

"GAAAH! HOW'D YOU KNOW?!"

"Is this guy a dumbass?" muttered Samuel, more annoyed at how idiotic Toby is.

"...Don't mind him. He's always like that," assured the silver-haired man, who was also as annoyed as the Exceed was.

Azure turned to the silver-haired man and said, "Okay! Now that you revealed your magic, it's our turn! Samuel's like, real strong! He can transform into a big cat and way more physically strong than I am! As for me, I'm super stronger than Samuel in terms of Magic Power, and I'm a Dragon Slayer!"

"A Dragon Slayer?!" To the silver-haired man, he only knew a few Dragon Slayers, like Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel, but they all died 6 years ago when Tenrou Island was destroyed by Acnologia. The other few Dragon Slayers that were still alive were the infamous Twin Dragons of Sabertooth.

Samuel groaned, covering his face with his paws. "Damnit, Azure..." Shaking his head, Samuel snapped out of it before turning to the silver-haired man. "By the way, you never told us your names."

"Oh, that's right. I'm Lyon, and this is Toby. We're both from Lamia Scale."

"Lyon? Toby? Oh! Those are cool names!' piped up Azure. "So 'Toby' is doggy's name? Sweet!"

"I'm not a doggy!"

"Wait, do you mean Lyon Vastia?" questioned Samuel, going through his notepad. 'As in, the famous Lyon from Lamia Scale?!"

"Yes, that is correct." Lyon nodded his head.

Samuel calmed down a few moments later, letting a breath of relief escape him. "Well, given the evidence of your Ice-Make Magic I've seen so far, I can conclude you are indeed Lyon Vastia. With you and...and Toby by our side, our success rate for this mission has dramatically increased."

"Thank you...I guess?"

"Samuel, enough with all the smart talk," complained Azure. "Besides, we totally gotta hurry up with our mission! I totally don't wanna stay here too much!" She hugged herself, shivering as her cold breath was seen in the air. "And I hate the cold!"

"...You like to swim in cold, icy water, yet you hate the cold in winter regions?" questioned Samuel, baffled. "Sometimes, I just don't understand you, Azure."

"Gah! I just realized something! We left our boat back at the shore! Now we have to go back for it!" cried out Azure, ruffling the sides of her hair furiously.

"Hold on. You might not need to do that," said Lyon. "I can use my magic to make a boat for us."

Samuel looked up at the Ice Mage. "You mean, use Ice-Make Magic to create a boat made of ice? It's not much, but as long as it's stable, we should be alright."

"Really?!" exclaimed Azure, her worries quickly dissipating. "Sweet! Can I row the boat?"

"NO!"

* * *

_Later, on the island... _

"Well, the people certainly weren't lying when they said that the island was surrounded by unfrozen water," spoke up Lyon as soon as he and his companions arrived on shore.

"Right! Let's do finish our jobs!" reminded Azure, throwing a punch excitedly at the air.

"Hold on. We need to be careful. Who knows what dangers awaits us," said Samuel, taking cautious steps into the snow-filled tropical forest. "If we're careless, we might end up dead."

"HEY! I'm not dead!" yelled Toby, as if someone was accusing him of doing something troublesome.

"Not you, idiot!" It's only been an hour since they met, and already, Samuel was experiencing more than one headache right now.

"Hey, since we're cooperating together, we never did get to sharing our rewards when we were all done," spoke Azure, bringing to everyone's attention.

Samuel, Toby, and Lyon knew she had a point there. They were too fixiated on other things to think about the rewards, specifically the amount of Jewels they would receive from their different missions. Since they were in a temporary alliance, they might as well discuss it now.

"Our mission's reward was about 6,000 Jewels," revealed Toby.

"All that just to defeat one monster? It might be very powerful then," commented Samuel, surprised.

Lyon nodded. "It is. In fact, it's an Ice Serpent."

"Ooh! That sounds pretty cool!" complimented Azure, even though she had no knowledge of such a monster.

"Do you even know what sort of monster it is?"

"Kinda! It's some sort of serpent-snake monster that breathes ice, doesn't it?"

"Not exactly." Samuel climbed up a tall rock to devert the attention to him before he began explaining. "You see, an Ice Serpent is a very strong creature that lingers in the snowy regions, but they are rarely seen. They can't breath ice, like you mentioned, Azure, but they have a strong resistance to ice magic, and usually lives underwater, but they're usually sleeping underwater or hunting in the forest. Mostly sleeping. Should we encounter this monster, this is about a 45% percent chance of victory."

"Yikes, that low, huh?" muttered Azure, as if getting hit by an imaginary attack. "Lyon, are you sure you're not some Ice Dragon Slayer?"

"If I was, I would have already mentioned it. Besides, the Ice Serpent may be strong, but unlike humans, it's not very intelligent either."

"Let's check out the island, already. Maybe we might find the Ice Serpent or something," suggested Samuel. "Besides, I might find some new information to put in my notes as well."

Azure hopped from one small cliff to another, reaching the small plain fields in the tropical forest. "Well, what are we waiting for? Hurry up! I wanna see the forest!"

"Hang on, Azure!" called Samuel, flying after her as she ventured deeper into the unknown depths of the forest.

"Might as well follow them," mumbled Lyon before he and Toby ran after them, preparing themselves to face any dangers inside the forest. As they explored in the forest, they encountered monsters there, which wasn't a surprise, since they somewhat expected there to be enemies. But, they had a strange feeling about them.

Eventually, they arrived at a huge river that flowed towards the ocean and decided to rest there for a while.

"So far, the monsters aren't all that powerful," spoke Samuel, going through his notes on the types of monsters they encountered. "With the right level of Mages, the D.M.O. should be able to take over this island, right Azure? Huh?"

Azure, who was staring at her clear reflection in the water with a distress look, was in thought of something, not listening to what Samuel said. She was more focused on the stange behaviors that the monsters had.

Sure, she and the others showed no mercy to their enemies, but only a few monsters attacked them. The others ran off, even though they looked like they wanted to pick a fight. That bothered Azure somewhat, and she wanted to know why.

Lyon seemed to have guessed what Azure was thinking, because he was also wondering the same thing. He was suspicious of the monster's actions of running off instead of fighting them. Maybe a little investigation is in order.

"Azure? You want to go together with me for a while?" suggested Lyon, walking up to her and offering a hand.

Before she could comply, Samuel flew between the two of them, his arms spread as if to protect his friend. "Hold on! If you're going, then so shall I!"

"Samuel, it's alright," assured Azure, gently pushing past Samuel and stepping up in front of Lyon. "Besides, if Lyon does something wrong to me, I'll just kick his ass!"

_'Er...right,' _thought Lyon, sweatdropping as he lowered his arm. "Toby, you stay here with the cat-"

"My name is Samuel!"

"Oh, sorry. Toby, you stay here with Samuel. We'll be back soon. I want to investigate something."

Wasting no time at all, Lyon and Azure headed past the tall, snow-covered trees and deep into the winter forest, considering the cold environment. As they were walking together on a snowy path, leaving their footprints behind, Lyon asked, "So, what did you think?"

"Huh? About what?"

"About the monsters. They seemed a bit strange, don't you think?"

Azure sighed in relief before smiling. "Yeah! But..." She frowned, pondering for a bit. "I wonder what's wrong. It was like...maybe they didn't want to fight us because we were crazy strong? Well, I don't want to fight unless neccessary either."

"That's why I wanted you to come with me," said Lyon. "I thought you might be able to sniff this out." Taking something out of his pocket, Lyon showed her two oranges, but they seemed to be half-eaten.

"Oranges? In this kind of environment?" Leaning in close, Azure sniffed the oranges, catching two scents. "Hmm...One scent's the orange, but the other one's a monster. Probably one of the monsters that ran away."

"So? Can you pinpoint the monster's location?"

"Sure can!" said Azure, saluting to the Ice-Make Mage. "Let's see...Oh! That way!" Grabbing Lyon's hand, she began sniffing the scent's trail that the monster had left behind.

"Hold on! Slow down a moment, Azure!"

* * *

_A little bit later, with Samuel and Toby... _

Toby was sitting on the ground, fishing for something good to eat as Samuel was sitting comfortably somewhere close, reading a novel he brought along. Just when Toby was about to dooze off out of boredom, he yelped when he noticed some blurry shadow in the water swim by at a fast speed.

"Um...Samuel?"

"What?" The Exceed glanced up from his book, annoyed at being interrupted. He was just getting to the good part when this dog-like man just had to interupt his reading time!

"I-I think there's something in the water!" Toby dropped his fishing rod and stood up, cautious and a little scared, not that he would dare admit it.

"Knowing you, it's probably just a catfish." With that said, Samuel went back to reading.

"But...it looked a bit too _big_ to be a catfish..." Toby squinted his eyes carefully, trying to make sure that what he say wasn't an illusion.

Suddenly, a bigger shadow swam by, much faster, causing Toby to cry out and fall down.

"There it is again!"

Sighing, Samuel put away his book and looked at the river, only to see nothing but cold, calm waters. "Nothing's th-"

Out from the river, a snake-like monster with sky blue-colored skin with dark blue eyes and the largest fangs anyone's seen bursted out of the river. It hissed and slithered, around, seeing Toby and Samuel with its wide eyes before leaping forward with its fangs wide open.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"MOVE!" Grabbing Toby by the shoulders, Samuel spread his wings and flew upwards into the air, dodging the rash attack in time.

"GAAAAH! That is one giant snake!" screamed Toby, freaked out.

"To be more accurate, it's an Ice Serpent," corrected the intelligent Exceed. "But enough of that for now. There's not much information about Ice Serpents, but it's said that their skin is thick. We'll have to buy time for Azure and Lyon to come back."

"Heh, not to worry!" assured Toby, unsheathing his green paralyzing claws. "I can take this guy!"

"Knowing you, you'd be dead in less than a minute, so I can't leave you alone. All we can do is hope for them to come back soon. Oh, and I'm dropping you now."

"Alright! ...WAIT, WHAT?!"

After releasing Toby's shoulders, and hearing him scream until he landed in a soft pile of snow, it only took a few seconds for Samuel to transform from his small, normal form to his Battle Mode. Instead of his usual cocky smirk whenever he uses Battle Mode, it was replaced with a worried and confused look.

Normally, whenever he fights, he usually wins, since he knows a lot of tactics and strategies to use, even if he doesn't know about his opponent first. If he does know his opponent's moves, it'll help improve his tactics even further. However, since there wasn't much information on the creature he was fighting, and given the Ice Serpent's body structure, this was one of the battles that Samuel couldn't tell if he could win or not. Even worse, Azure and Lyon, the trump cards in his team, weren't here. And even though Samuel knew he was much more physically stronger than Azure, he couldn't beat her immense amount of magic power.

"Hey! Cat!" yelled Toby angrily, getting up from the snow he landed on. "Next time, warn me before you start dropping me! You're pretty damn lucky that the snow cushioned my fall!"

Hearing Toby's loud, not to mention, annoying, outburst, Samuel groaned. _'...And another reason to hate dogs. I knew it was the right choice to reject Azure's offer about getting a dog companion that one time.' _He stared at the Ice Serpent, who was also staring back, watching his every move.

Even though Toby and Samuel couldn't defeat the Ice Serpent, they could at least hold it back.

* * *

_With Lyon and Azure... _

"Hey! Hey! Look over there, Lyon! I see some monsters!"

"Hold on, Azure!"

To Lyon, it was like chasing after an energetic 5 year old that was on a sugar rush. If Samuel had been Azure's companion for a very, _VERY_, long time, the Ice-Make Mage would have felt sorry for the Exceed.

Soon enough, the two of them arrived at what seemed to be some sort of campsite. They saw small and cute-looking animal-like monsters, roaming around and playing games. Some of them were eating small vegetables, some sleeping, and the others were doing whatever they were doing. They seemed like harmless little creatures.

However. Lyon and Azure recognized some of the monsters were the ones they had fought before and had escaped. In fact, those injured monsters saw Lyon and Azure, and began to speak in their own animal language. Whatever they said caused all the monsters in the campsite to gather around and form some sort of wall to protect their campsite.

"Hold on! We're not here to fight or anything!" cried out Azure, shaking her head frantically.

The other monsters didn't seem to listen to her as they were glaring at both her and Lyon, preparing to attack if they made any sudden movements.

Knowing the position they were in, Lyon thrusted his arm forward, about to activate his Magic Seal. "Looks like we have no choice but to fight..."

"Wait just a moment!" pleaded Azure, turning to him before taking several steps back.

She crotched down, steadied her breathing, then took off right into the direction of the monsters. However, instead of attacking them head on, she jumped off the ground with one foot, and somersaulted once in the air before landing a few centimeters from the monsters, close enough to get to the injured ones.

"Azure-!" cried out Lyon, reaching a hand for her. Seeing a small stream right next to her, Azure began using her Magic to manipulate some of the water and placed the water on one of the monster's injuries. Luckily, the injured monsters couldn't move, so they simply watched what she was doing.

The water magic Azure was controlling began to glow silvery-blue, illuminating just a little, but enough to attract everyone's attention. Lyon, along with the rest of the monsters, watched in amazement as the monster's wounds began to disappear slowly, but effectively.

Azure's spell, namely Water Dragon Slayer's Healing, was just a simple healing spell passed down by her dragon parent, Nereus. Healing magic was rare, but because Azure focused more on offense and defense in battle, she only had one supportive healing spell. However, the more water there was, the more effective her spell was.

One by one, Azure began healing all of the monsters that were injured, and slowly, the other monsters that had viewed her and Lyon as a threat, were backing down and watching her heal. When she was finally finished, all the monsters she healed backed away from her, as if saying they wouldn't attack her anymore.

"You can use healing magic?" asked Lyon, astonished as he stepped towards Azure, helping her stand up.

"Only a little bit! But, I'm more of a fighter than a healer!"

Then, a rabbit-like creature tugged on Azure's pants, wanting something from her. When it got the attention it needed, the rabbit creature began to draw something on the snow with its small paw before backing away to show its drawing.

It was a drawing of some sort of long snake, and an X-mark.

"Wait...is the snake supposed to represent the Ice Serpent?" wondered Lyon, taking a guess. "And...X's are meant to be to take out, or eliminate..."

_"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" _

With her Dragon Slayer senses, Azure heard Toby's scream coming from afar, probably from all the way from their campsite. "Doggy's in danger!" she cried out, grabbing Lyon's wrist. Without warning, she starter sprinting back to the campsite, forcing Lyon to come with her.

"Hey! Not again!"

* * *

_Back with Toby and Samuel... _

The Ice Serpent that's similar to a snake swiftly raises its head up, lashing its tail at Samuel, who was still flying in mid-air. The end of the tail was very sharp and had somewhat a dagger's edge, as if it could cut up anything with it's long and dangerous tail.

Noticing yet another lash attack coming from the monster, the exhausted Samuel flew higher, managing to dodge the dagger-like tail in time. When the tail was brought down to the ground, Toby jumped out of the way to avoid the shockwave.

For the past few minutes, both Toby and Samuel had struggled against this fiercious snake monster, trying to find the weak spots of the monster. So far, the only one they found was the forehead, but it was only a small spot of the forehead, as in the center of it. In fact, both Mages were receiving a lot more damage, and they were almost out of Magic due to overuse of their Magic. At the very least, they have at least 10 minutes worth of Magic left before they completely run out.

"Take this!" panted Samuel, thrusting his claws towards the Ice Serpent. One of his special abilities while in Battle Mode, was to use a special Claw Beam attack, which would increase his claw's length and shoot out strong, powerful purple lasers.

His lasers accurately blasted the center of the Ice Serpent, greatly injurying the Ice Serpent. Squirming with a severe wound, the Ice Serpent began coiling its long sneak-like body around and around before swiftly striking with its long sharp tail. This time, it swung from high right to left, sending both Samuel and Toby to crash against some trees from the impact of the tail attack.

"Owww..." groaned Toby as he and Samuel slowly got up, despite their rough wounds. The Ice Serpent was also injured, but not as much as the two Mages, and it was still active, and increased its desire for prey.

"Samuel! Doggy!"

Out of the snowy forest came Azure and Lyon, who had rushed back to the campsite with all of their strength, resulting in them getting tired from running so much.

"Oh, NOW you show up!" Toby complained indignantly. "And my name is Toby! TOBY! Not Doggy!"

"Never mind that!" said Samuel, winching. "Look, the skin is tough, and the weak spot is the center of the forehead!"

"We'll take it over from here," said Lyon, readying his Magic with both his hands.

"Yeah!" Unsheathing her sword, Azure also got as serious as Lyon, her energetic determination turning into a silent, cold one as both faced off against the Ice Serpent, who waited for them impatiently.

To even the battlefield, Lyon started to cast an Ice-Make familiar spell that would match the Ice Serpent. "Ice-Make: Water Serpent!" Out of his Magic Seal, a large serpent made of water started to spiral around the Ice Serpent, and once it made contact, the water familiar began to turn frozen, trapping the Ice Serpent.

However, the frozen familiar serpent started showing cracks as the Ice Serpent struggled to break free. In no time, the Ice Serpent would be freed, but for a few more seconds, it was vulnerable to any attacks, even though the skin was very thick.

Leaping around, using the cracking frozen serpent as a launch pad, Azure advanced closer and closer to the Ice Serpent, wielding her sword on her right side. Letting out a battle cry, Azure lunged forward, slashing at the Ice Serpent's forehead, since she couldn't accurately stab her sword at the smallest weak point on its forehead.

The Ice Serpent roared, finally shattering the icy, spiral prison trapping it before coiling its body around to defend itself. In mid-air, Azure couldn't do anything to defend herself and was forced to take a hit, causing her to crash down at the snowy grounds with no defense to protect her from another strike coming from the Ice Serpent.

"Ice-Make: Shield!"

A large shield made entirely out of ice formed in front of Azure, shattering into pieces as soon as the Ice Serpent's tail made contact with it. The only person who could have created this spell was none other than Lyon, who saved Azure.

"Get out of there, now!" yelled Lyon, before producing another ice shield to cover Azure. She nodded curtly before jumping back in time to see another blow from the Ice Serpent destroy the ice shield.

For the next several minutes or so, Lyon and Azure tried their best to dodge or block any of the Ice Serpent's strong attacks, especially since it excels in speed, strength, and defense. Though Lyon's ice-cold Ice-Maker Magic, and Azure's skilled and sharp sword techniques managed to hit the Ice Serpent's weak point several times, it felt like they were hitting an iron wall over and over.

Samuel and Toby could only watch from the back since they had taken a lot of damage in the first part of the battle. They couldn't do anything to assist the two, but Azure and Lyon were pretty strong, considering there was a powerful Ice-Maker master, and a Dragon Slayer fighting side-by-side.

Lyon's Ice-Make Magic couldn't harm much towards the Ice Serpent, due to the high ice resistance it had. For Azure, it was a different story, since she could strike its weak point with the tip of her sword, which was causing the Ice Serpent to effectively weaken time to time. Also, since there was a river nearby, Azure could always produce healing to Lyon or herself whenever neccessary, and sometimes use her Water Dragon Slayer Magic to defend, but the offensive spells didn't do much against the Ice Serpent.

The strategy was simple: Lyon would stand by and distract the Ice Serpent with his Magic, and Azure would be the damage-dealer in the battle, trying to reach the Ice Serpent's forehead to finish it off. If Lyon got severely injured during the battle, he would attack from a far-range, and Azure would use her Water Dragon's Healing spell on him until his wounds recovered.

Finally, about 40 minutes passed, and both Azure and Lyon were exhausted, but the Ice Serpent looked ready to collapse at any minute as well. As they fought, Lyon examined Azure as she fought. Although they were different, he could almost see Gray in her, especially the cold, determined look in her eyes, resembling Gray's whenever he got serious.

"Lyon!" hollered Azure, pulling her sword back before taking a stance. "I need another boost!"

"Understood! Ice Make: Rampart!" Unleasing an immense amount of Magic Power, Lyon created a large wall of ice underneath Azure, bringing her up high in the sky, much higher than the Ice Serpent. However, that was all she needed.

With a sharp cry, Azure leaped from her position and got close to the Ice Serpent's head in an instant. As soon as her feet landed on top of the head, she felt the Ice Serpent begin to move, so she jumped up as high as she could, her body tilting to the right as she placed both hands on her sword's hilt and started gathering her Magic power around her blade, a swirling mass of water surrounding the blade to increase the sharpness.

The swirling, small typhoon surrounding the blade caused Lyon to shield his eyes with his arm. With the help of the sun, the blade shined from the sunlight, making the water swirling around the sword illuminate as well, for only an instant.

"WATER DRAGON'S JIGSAW HORN!"

Screaming the name of the spell outloud, Azure rammed the tip of her sword straight into the center of the Ice Serpent's forehead, hearing the skull from the inside shatter and crack. The Ice Serpent let out a high-pitched shrill cry before its entire, large body collapsed in the river, blood pouring from the forehead after Azure took out her sword.

Sighing in relief, Lyon began relaxing his body, happy that the monster they were requested to eliminate was now destroyed. He knew it would be a tough monster, but he never expected such a thing to be this tough.

Azure dipped her bloody sword into the river as soon as half her body was in the river, watching the blood being washed away before placing it back to her scabbard and staring blankly at the dead Ice Serpent. She blinked for a few seconds, the cold look in her eyes disappearing with a joyful one before she gave into a smile.

The petite girl swam to shore, than ran over to the exhausted Lyon, jumping up and down in victory. "Yay! Yay! We did it, Lyon!"

Lyon merely nodded his head, too exhausted to speak for the moment. That was indeed one of the toughest opponents he's fought throughout his life, and, not that he enjoyed fighting, but he would try to avoid such monsters like the Ice Serpent so he could grow stronger.

Then, out from the bushes, a small rabbit monster started hopping towards Azure, carrying something in its mouth. When it approached by her feet, it dropped a small red gem.

"Hmm?" Bending down, she picked the gem up and stared at it in astonishment. "Oh, thank you!"

"...I think I get it now," said Lyon.

"Get what?" Azure turned to the Lamia Scale Mage, confused.

"I mean, I think I knew why those monsters before were attacking us. They were trying to protect their home, and I mean this island. And, the Ice Serpent is a predator to small animals, so it might have taken over this island and was eating the animals here. That explains the picture one of those animals showed us, and the X-mark."

"What are you two talking about?" questioned Samuel. Since he and Toby never went with Lyon or Azure, both didn't know about their encounter with the peaceful monsters in their own campsite.

"Well, it's a long story," said Azure before she and Lyon began explaining.

* * *

_Later at the D.M.O. HQ... _

The president of the company was filling out some paperwork in his office when he was told by his secretary that some Mages were here to see him. Knowing full well who she was talking about, the president allowed them in, though he was surprised to see Toby and Lyon with the Mages he hired, seeing how they weren't there with them the first time he met Azure and Samuel.

"Well, you're certainly back soon. And who are these two new people?"

"Oh, they helped me and Samuel out during the request," answered Azure, addressing to both Lamia Scale members.

"I see. So, how was the island? Is it safe?"

"Um..."

Azure grew silent, quietly biting her lower lip as she tried to say something. Lyon and Toby only followed her and Samuel after they got their own reward money just to see what might happen. Actually, Lyon wanted to hear Azure's response to her client after they learned that there were harmless, innocent monsters protecting their island, and Toby had to be dragged along because Lyon was his guild member.

"The island...The island is crawling with wyverns!"

"Ehhh?!" The president, Samuel, and Toby cried out, shocked. The president was shocked because wyverns were a fierce, powerful race and similar to dragons, and Samuel and Toby's reason for freaking out was due to Azure making up a lie.

_'Huh, amusing,' _thought Lyon, crossing his arms as he continued to listen to Azure's fake story.

"Y-Yeah! Great, big, and really strong wyverns!" continued Azure, frailing her arms around. "One was the size of a...huge tree! Another could shoot out...lightning and fire! And explosions! Boom! Boom! We were...pretty lucky to escape! Yeah!"

Amazingly, the president seemed to have believe the young girl. "Wyverns...why did it have to be wyverns?"

"What are you talking about?" questioned Toby, oblivious to the fake story. "There were no wy-"

Almost instantly, Samuel kicked at Toby's leg so hard, he started howling like a wolf and fell to the ground, clinging onto the wound on his leg that might turn into a nasty bruise. "OWWWWW!"

"Anyways, it's a bad idea to try cutting down trees there!" said Azure quickly. "So, try at a different area!"

The president sighed in disappointment. "I see. You're right. Well, thank you for at least trying. I'll give you the reward now."

Azure shook her head, denying the offer of so much money. "It's alright. We couldn't finish the task, so we don't need any reward."

_'Wait, really? I never expected this,' _thought Lyon more surprised, and impressed by her courtesy. Most people would jump at the chance for money, even if they were lying, but it seems even Azure has limits to being selfish. Maybe Gray would have done the same thing?

Once they were outside of the HQ building, Samuel sighed, bringing his red scarf closer to himself. "So much for all that money..."

Azure frowned, crossing her arms. "What's wrong, Samuel? I didn't think you cared so much for money."

"Because, Azure! It was 10,000 Jewels! We could have easily paid for the guild's fees from last month! Maybe this month too!"

"Hey, why did you give up the reward?" asked Toby, confused as he scratched his head. "If it was me, I would have taken it easily!"

"Eh...there's always next time," assured Azure, shrugging off the huge amount of money she and Samuel could have gotten. "Besides, I didn't really care about the money as long as it saved those innocent animals. But..."

She turned to Lyon and bowed her head a bit. Samuel always told her that if she truly wanted to apologize to someone, she had to bow her head in respect and apologize with words.

"Sorry, Lyon. We had an alliance, and me and Samuel can't really give you anything in return. So much for our alliance, huh?"

Instead of getting mad, Lyon shook his head. "No, it's okay. You don't need to give us a reward."

"Hmm...But I still feel bad," pouted Azure, pondering on what to do with an adorable, clueless expression on her face. "Ah! I know! Next time, with the right materials, I'll cook you something good! Oh! And doggy too!"

"I'm not a dog, damnit!"

Lyon let a small smile form in his face. The cheeky grin Azure gave him was a lot like the same grin he remembered Gray having when they were still young, acting as kids. "Sure, that's fine."

"Thanks, onii-chan!" squealed Azure, giggling before taking Samuel in her arms and skipping ahead happily.

"You're wel-" He paused when he realized what she said. "I'm not your onii-chan!"

But it was too late. Azure and Samuel were already ahead of him.

* * *

**Heya, guys! Thanks WhatIfStoryTeller for helping me out in this chapter, even if it was for a little bit! Next chapter is an OC profile for Azure, explaining almost everything about her! I'll also include Samuel's! Oh, and there's a 3 more chapters before the GMG 6th events arc comes!**


	10. OCs Profile!

**Ok! I'm now completely free of any tests or quizzes for the weekend, so I'll get started on some OC profiles! I'll also include Samuel's profile, but I should let you know that he's not really an OC.**

**Samuel is really an Exceed created in the Anime in the whole Zentopia Arc thing. If you want to look him up, do it in the Wiki, but I'll include his profile and some new things about him.**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! And Mage of Hope also does not own Samuel, but just doing some major changes. **

* * *

Name: Azure Fullbuster

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Age: 13 (currently)

Generation: 1st Generation

Nicknames: Usagi (Named by Romeo), Flatchest (Named by Romeo), Girly, Midget, and later, Aqua Berserker.

Appearance and signature clothing: Long dark hair that flows down her back, but her long hair is usually held up and hidden inside her black cap, making her look like a boy. She has blue eyes that usually brightens up with joy, and she usually have the look of a cute and adorable young boy. Her clothing consists of some baggy pants, a dark indigo-colored shirt covered with a light breastplate, dark fingerless gloves, black shoes, and a black overcoat with a collar that covers her neck. Whenever she's serious, her expression straightens and her eyes grow sharp, able to scare a few weak-willed people that way. She's very petite for her age, but just a little taller than Romeo, and her chest is undeveloped, resulting in some insulting nicknames by some people.

Personality: She's cheerful and the usual happy-to-go kind of person most of the time. She tries her best to cheer anyone up whenever they're sad and always shown with a grin or smile. Not only that, but she's also tomboyish as well, never wearing any girly clothes and mostly just male clothing. Most of the time, she's honest and doesn't hesitate to speak out her thoughts, which gets her in trouble a lot. She also seems mischievous and sneaky sometimes, and acts rashly without thinking straight, leading disastrous results in the end. She's also not very smart and very oblivious to major things.

Due to being tomboyish, wearing boy clothes, and hiding her long hair in her cap, people often mistake her as a boy, which happened to be a common mistake. Sometimes, Azure gets annoyed, but most of the time, whenever people refers to her as a male, she corrects them and show off her long hair, which would surprise them since she resembles a boy a lot.

In battle or any other serious situation, it's revealed she is highly intelligent in battle and thinking strategies, due to Samuel. She is secretly sensitive whenever anyone scolds or yells at her, so she vents all her negative emotions into battle. This results in her being a nearly emotionless, cold-hearted, silent, calm, and serious person whenever in battle. She also doesn't talk unless absolutely necessary and is very stubborn. Also, she wouldn't hesitate to kill, depending on the situation.

Guild: Fairy Tail

Magic: Water Dragon Slayer Magic (Caster Type Magic)

Water Dragon Slayer Magic: Since Azure is the Water Dragon Slayer, she can manipulate the water, whether it's her magic or from outside sources of water. In addition, if she's close enough to an outside source of water, she can heal herself and absorb water to rejuvenate her strength as well as others, depending on the amount of water. She cannot change the temperature of her water spells, meaning she can't make it hot or cold, but she is absolutely immune to getting wet in cold or hot water, but will not enter dangerous waters that might risk her life. As the Water Dragon Slayer, she can also breath underwater as long as she wants due to her special lungs from the magic, as well as fight more easily.

Azure's rare type of Magic can provide a bit of healing to herself and others as long as there was water. She cannot heal using her own Magic, only other outside sources of water. While her healing spells may help others, including herself, her healing skills are weaker than Wendy's, making Wendy the better healer. In addition, Azure can only heal, not provide other supportive spells such as increasing speed or strength like Wendy's spells can.

Enhanced Agility: Azure's small size has shown to help her out in complicated fights, making her agile and fast on her feet as well as allow her to perform acrobatics. She can dodge lots of slow attacks and jump very high in the air.

Enhanced Durability: Azure possess a high amount of physical resilience due to her training throughout the years and unbreakable spirit in battle. She can take a huge deal of damage and continue to move and try ignoring the pain.

Enhanced Endurance: She has a large amount of physical stamina, able to fight for a long period of time despite her fragile state. However, she tries not to use too much of her spells to reduce stamina since her spells each consider a large amount of Magic Power. She normally fights with her weapon and hand-to-hand combat, but will also use her Magic when she sees fit.

Enhanced Smell: Like all Dragon Slayers, Azure has a keen sense of smell, able to identify people by their scent. Most of them time, she normally uses her sense of smell for delicious sweets, much to her Exceed's annoyance.

Enhanced Hearing: As part of her Dragon Slayer senses, Azure can hear things far away, but not as good as more powerful Dragon Slayers.

Average Hand to Hand Combatant: In battle, Azure had knowledge over lots of martial arts techniques, mostly because she created all of them herself instead of proper training. She can also combine unarmed attacks with her Water Dragon Slayer Magic to make up for her small size, increase her blows, and even increase range. She's more stronger with close conbat using martial arts than with her swordsmanship skills. However, her skills at hand-to-hand combat are only above average, and not at a master's level.

Average Swordsmanship Skills: Azure can wield a dao sword, a type of single-edged sword used more for slashing than stabbing. She made up a lot of her techniques, making them imperfect and not as skilled as master swordsmen. Although she shows potential and skill in the sword, she's not a complete master and wasn't properly trained, since she taught herself how to use a sword.

Equipment: Sword and Magic Motorcycle

Dao Sword: Azure normally keeps her sword sheathed in its scabbard, like any other normal person would. Her dao sword is one of the lightest swords in the world, making it easier for her to wield it and perform multiple combos in battle.

Magic Motorcycle: Although unknown where she got it, Azure has kept a Magic Motorcycle for however long she's remembered. Her Magic Motorcycle is a type of Magic Vehicle with an SE-Plug, and she has enjoyed riding it numerous times. However, her motorcycle seems to be unstable a lot since Azure places a lot of Magic Power in it, resulting in her seeing an engineer worker about once or twice a week.

Family: Nereus (Adoptive father), Samuel (Adoptive younger brother)

Exceed partner: Samuel

Relationships; Nereus: Azure and her adopted father have a good relationship, but argue over stupid things like who gets to eat the bigger portion of fish for dinner. Azure is annoyed by Nereus perverted traits and wishes to someday beat him. They don't seem to hold grudges against each other and care for each other deeply. Even now, Azure wishes to find her father who went missing for the past 6 years so that she could reunite with him, as well as beat him up.

Samuel: Although they don't act like one, Azure and Samuel have a brotherly/sisterly bond. They were close when they were just babies, growing up together and understanding each other. She and Samuel get into pointless arguments which Azure mostly starts. Even though she was older than Samuel by one year, Samuel acts like he's more superior and older than Azure, seeing how more mature he is. Nevertheless, they both care for each other and can sync perfectly in battle together.

Bio: Nereus found her when she was just a newborn baby, so he took her under her wing. About a year later, little baby Azure met a newborn Samuel and became close to him. Azure and Samuel were taught how to write and read and many other things by Nereus, and Azure learned about the Fullbuster name and how both her parents were dead, and how her supposedly older brother, Gray, might be also. When Azure was 7, her father suddenly disappeared, leaving her to take care of Samuel and start exploring the world, and when she thought she was strong enough, she joined Fairy Tail, not caring if it was weak.

* * *

Name: Nereus

Gender: Male

Age: Unknown

Species: Dragon

Nicknames: The Water Dragon, old man (Named by Azure), pervy old bastard (Named by Azure.

Appearance: A large, four-legged Dragon with a turquoise-colored body. He also has fish scales all over his body, green colored eyes, a big jaw that shows his sharp teeth, and a long, large tail with scales and fins.

Personality: Unlike most Dragons, Nereus is actually much more carefree and lazy. He also doesn't seem interested in eating humans, or even bothering to see them as a threat. In fact, he wishes to see human potential since it interests him. He and Azure have a comical, yet close relationship to each other, and he dislikes cats a lot, but only kept Samuel due to Azure's request. He also seems to be a huge pervert and secretly reads porn magazines.

Children: Azure (Adoptive daughter) Samuel (Adopted son)

Relationships; Azure: When he saw her as a baby, he took pity upon her and took care of her. Nereus did seem to dislike it whenever Azure tried to throw away any of his porn magazines which he enjoyed so much, but both still cared for each other. When Azure was smart enough, he told her about adoption and handed her the letter that was written in Azure's supposedly dead mother's handwriting.

Samuel: When Azure was 1 years old, she was found playing with a large egg which Nereus wanted to eat. However, thanks to Azure's crying and unwilling to part with the egg, Nereus helped take care of the egg, surprised to see a baby Exceed. At first, Nereus was unsure whether or not to also teach his Magic to Samuel, but Samuel didn't want to due to wanting to train himself. Both seemed to be in good terms, though like Azure, Samuel disliked Nereus' perverted traits.

* * *

Name: Samuel

Gender: Male

Age: 12 (currently)

Species: Exceed

Nicknames: Sammy (By Pantherlily later on) Smarty (By Nereus)

Appearance: A small, anthropomorphous light blue cat with whiskers, and cat-like ears, like every Exceed should have. His attire is a Mitre with a church insignia on it, Gale-Force Reading Glasses, a red scarf, and a dark blue shirt.

Similar to Pantherlily, Samuel has a Battle Form that he can switch when in battle. In Battle Mode, he grows taller and much more muscular. His red scarf turns into a cap and he wears only white trouses, showing off his muscular chest. His glasses are placed on top of his Mitre so that they don't get damaged, and his ears and fuzzy whiskers grow longer.

Personality: Most of the time, he's calm, mature, and highly intelligent, always eagered to gather and collect new information. He likes making calculations and is very confident and arrogant in his knowledge. He also has a photographic memory and likes stating the obvious sometimes. In battle, he believes and takes any possible chance to win, but whenever his calculations are wrong, he goes hysterical and acts insane and confused for a while unless someone snaps him out of it. He is annoyed and impatient at Azure, but cares deeply for her and is closest to her the most.

Magic: Aera

Aera: Allows him to sprout angelic wings that can make him fly and carry things or people for a considerate amount of time, depending on his Magic Power.

Max Speed: Using his Magic Power, Samuel can increase his speed as fast as he can to dodge attack or to close in the enemy. However, he doesn't use this often due to the rapid loss of Magic Power.

Battle Mode Shift: He can change from his smaller, cute form to a much bigger and stronger one as long as he has Magic Power.

Claw Beam: In Battle Mode, he can increase his claw's length and shoow out purple lasers, though his claws length has a limit.

Enhanced Speed: Thanks to the power of the Max Speed spell, he can go as fast as possible as long as he uses a lot of Magic Power to do so. He is capable of being fast on his own, but not as fast as the Max Speed spell.

Enhanced Strength: In Battle Mode, he is very strong in physical strength, even physically stronger than Azure, something he secretly likes to boast about. He can lift up some boulders and throw some heavy punches.

Dragon Slayer Partner: Azure

Family: Nereus (Adopted father) Azure (Adopted older sister)

Relationships; Azure: While he and Azure may act like close friends, they actually have a close sibling bond together since they spent most of their lives together. Both are the opposite of each other, but have some similar traits. Althought Azure is 1 year older than him, Samuel acts much older than her, correcting her errors and explaining difficult things to her. He is also a bit protective to her, seeing how she's naive to the world and the dark natures. He tends to be annoyed a lot by Azure's cheerfulness and careless mistakes, not hesitating to call her an idiot.

Nereus: He and the Water Dragon seemed to have a good relationship, rarely arguing with one another. Nereus seemed to call him a 'Smarty' due to him being smart at a young age. Even though Samuel respects his adopted father, he's disgusted by a lot of his perverted hobbies and holds a small, personal grudge towards the dragon due to the dragon nearly eating him when he was just a baby.

* * *

**Alright, guess I'm finished with the OCs for now. It's only just one chapter of OCs profile, so it won't change a bit. Actually, Samuel wasn't really an OC, but I did place most of his true information here, but added a few things.**

**The reason it's like this is because I wanted people to know about Azure, Samuel, and Nereus. In the anime version, Samuel was kinda a bad person, but seeing how no one was using him in the manga, I decided to make him Azure's Exceed partner to make things interesting.**

**To clear some things up, Azure was probably around 7 when Gray and the rest of the Tenrou team headed for the Tenrou Island thing and vanished for 7 years straight, and this fanfic takes place 6 years after the Tenrou team disappeared. So, that means Azure is 13 years old, but a year later, the 7th year, she'll be 14. In this story, Azure acts a lot like Yuuki outside of battle, if you see SAO II, but she acts like Sinon whenever she's in battle. Just a heads up!**

**As for Nereus, he's a lot like that Jade Dragon. Actually, I forgot his name, but it started with a 'Zen' something. Anyways, if they were to meet, and combined with Jade Dragon's power to make people, especially women, naked...Ugh...**

**Anyways, it'll be a while before I post the next chapter, so until then, read and review!**


	11. Curiosity Saves The Cat

**Including this chapter, there are two more chapters before the 6th GMG arc starts! Just wanted to let you guys know!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Man! I can't believe I lost the map! Now it'll take me forever to get out of here! What have you done, Millianna?" complained a young woman with cat-like features. She was wearing bikini-like clothing that seemed to reveal a lot of her clothing, black gloves and shoes, and a dark cape to cover her revealing, curvaceous body.

The woman talking to herself was Millianna, a member of one of the famous, female-only guilds, Mermaid Heel. She had finished her own solo mission and was trying to find the next town to sleep in, but apparently, she got lost in a huge forest and ended up fighting a variety of monsters as she tried to find an exit.

The huge forest was filled with huge, towering trees, and going through the evergreen forest and around the enormous tree roots was very difficult for Millianna. If she had a map of the forest, she'd be fine, but during one of her previous battles, one of the monsters gobbled up her only map, thus rendering her lost.

Even though it was still daytime, it was during the late afternoon, and if Millianna didn't get out of the forest in time, she'd have to spend the night in a monster-infested forest. Plus, she was fatigued and exhausted from using a lot of Magic Power to fight off the monsters, and if she continued, she would not only faint, but also lose all Magic Power.

Now, she was enduring yet another fight, but with two large monsters with brute strength. Millianna sharpened her claws as she focused both her mind and breathing, but even with her quick speed, she didn't have the physical strength to properly defend against huge monsters, at least, not in the state she was in.

Millianna was panting, dodging the slow brutal blows from the monsters with ease. Suddenly, the shrubs behind her began to shake slightly, and a shadow crashed into the grass with a banging sound. At this, the two monsters and Millianna froze to stare at the intruder.

"Owww... That really hurted!"

Rubbing her head, Azure slowly stood up on her own two feet, groaning in pain. She wiped away any dust and dirt on her clothing as she straightened herself and glance at the scene before crossing her arms in confusion. "Uh...what's going on?"

From the looks of it, it didn't seem that the boy that had just arrived didn't seem like a fighter to Millianna. Just what was some young kid like him doing here? Millianna examined his appearance once more and noticed he was just wearing ordinary male clothing with a sword attached to his side. Other than that, he looked like a frail, young person to her.

Not wanting for him to get hurt, Millianna cried out, "Get away! Quick! Run!"

"Hmm?" Noticing two of the large monsters Millianna was fighting, Azure figured that they were hurting her. "Oh! Monsters! Leave them to me!" Declaring that, Azure unsheathed her blade from her scabbard to prepare to fight.

"No, you idiot-!" Turning back to the enemies, Millianna gasped when she saw one of them try striking down with their large fists towards her and the kid. Anticipating this, both of them leaped up in time to avoid a shockwave throughout the ground beneath them before they landed safefully.

"Ooh! A fight! Hey, you don't mind if I slice these guys up, right?" Azure turned to Millianna, asking her with a mischievous-looking grin on her face.

"I don't care, but they're pretty tough!" panted Millianna, clutching her injured arm. "You can't handle them!"

"Nah! Don't underestimate me!"

Saying that, Azure charged towards the two monsters as they prepared for their offensive assault. She jumped over one of their fists and started running up one of the monster's arms, sprinting as fast as she could so she doesn't fall over and to deliver a decisive blow. As she was sprinting upwards, she tried to slash the monster's arm, but it was a lot thicker than it looked.

The monster tried to swipe at her with one arm, but Azure leaped off its arm and delivered at least four slashes to its chest before landing on the soft grass below. She swiftly weak, but multiple small slashes at the monster's naked legs before running away for some distance as the monster growled in pain.

Seeing the second monster trying to assault Azure, Millianna knew she couldn't just stand by and let her small savior get pummeled to the ground. So, she charged into the battlefield and mustered up strength to cast one of her spells.

"Nekósoku Tube!" One magical whip-like tube springed out of Millianna's Magic Seal, and soon divided into multiple tubes which were then used to tangle and bind the second monster so he couldn't move. Although she was struggling, Millianna managed to keep the second monster in place as Azure was handling the first monster.

After Azure saw the second monster being bound, she got an idea as she was being chased by the monster she was currently fighting. Once she got close to the second monster, she took advantage of its paralyzed body and started climbing upwards until she reached the shoulders.

Millianna saw the small boy on top of the tied-up monster's shoulders and shouted, "What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!"

Just as Azure expected, the other monster not bound charged towards the tied monster and threw a hard punch towards her. At the last moment, Azure leaped upwards as high as she could and heard the sound of a skull shattering before landing on the grass.

The young Mermaid Heel member stared in shock as the monster she had tied up had collapsed to the ground, its face messed up and blood oozing out of its nostrils and mouth. That boy had risked his life in order for the other monster to attack its own ally! Was that boy more crazy or what?!

Yelling out loud, Azure used her small stature to her advantage, charged straight at the last monster, and plunged her sword straight into its throat with all her strength. A disgusting, grotesque sound urked from the monster before it fell to its back, dead.

Millianna, who had spent an considerate amount of Magic Power even before Azure came along, sighed in relief. Her vision began to turn black and she felt her own body getting lighter and lighter. The last thing she saw before fainting was the boy rushing towards her with his arm reaching out for her.

* * *

_Later... _

Yawning, Millianna used her hands to push herself off the grass and sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. She glanced around before realizing she was sitting in clean, dew-covered grass, and that there was a small river nearby. Sitting not too far away was the same boy who helped her defeat those monsters before.

Azure, who had been waiting for the cat-like lady to wake up, was forced to drag Millianna's body near the river while she was asleep so she could gather the water from the river to heal her wounds. Afterwards, Azure waited for the cat lady to wake up, but before she did, Azure did something nasty...

"Oh, hi there! Finally awake?"

Instantly, Millianna stood up, unsheathing her claws while staring intently at Azure with a death glare. Yelping, Azure hid behind a rock and peeked her head out, not knowing what she did wrong.

"Gah! What's wrong?! What did I do?!"

"Tell me what you did, RIGHT NOW, while I was ASLEEP, and you _MIGHT _live!"

"Gaaaah! Okay! Okay! I drew doodles all over your face!"

"...What?"

"I got out a black marker and drew doodles all over your face because I thought it was funny, and it was!"

"..."

Once she made her way towards the river, Millianna took a good look at her face and saw lots of harmless little doodles on her face. Some were small flowers, some were black circles, and others were just random. It didn't seem like the boy did any harm to her whatsoever.

"...And you're sure you didn't do anything else?"

"Huh?" Not sensing any anger coming from the cat lady, Azure stood from her spot and approached her. "Yeah, of course I didn't do anything else. Well, other than heal you. Why? Was...I supposed to do something else?"

Millianna seemed to be sputtering, unable to form words correctly. "Well-You could have-I mean-Never mind."

Crossing her arms, Azure tilted her head, more confused. "Huh? You're weird, cat lady." Then, she let out a lighthearted laugh. "But then again, I like weird! I'm Azure, by the way!"

"Oh, I'm Millianna. Wait, what happened? Why are you here? Are you lost?"

"Hmm...That's way too many questions, but I'll answer!" perked up Azure. "Well, I was lost in the forest, and I was trying to find my friend, Samuel! Oh, and I saw you getting attacked by those monsters, so I wanted to help you!"

"Then, why were you at the trees?" growled Millianna, remembering the small event before. If this boy was up at the tree and secretly following her, she'd show no mercy to him, even if he is some kid!

"Oh, I wanted to try finding my friend, so I climbed up trees and tried to see if I could find him! Speaking of which, have you seen someone else in the forest besides me?"

"No. The only things I've encountered are just monsters, but that's just it. How do you think your friend's holding up?"

"Hmm? Oh, knowing Samuel, I'm sure he'll be alright!"

* * *

_Meanwhile... _

"AZURE! WHERE ARE YOU?! DAMNIT, I TURNED AROUND FOR ONE SECOND, AND YOU DISAPPEARED!"

Samuel, who was flying continuously in the air, called out for his partner for who knows how long. He and Azure were simply walking around the forest, trying to find a way out when Samuel desperately needed to use the bathroom.

The last thing he heard from Azure was her squealing about a cute bunny. It didn't take even a genius like him to quickly figure that Azure chased after the bunny and completely forgot about him.

So, the Exceed was flying around, trying to find his partner before anything worse happens. For all he could tell, Azure could start a forest war between two different kinds of animals! That happened once, but luckily, they were both weak kinds of animals, so dealing with them didn't take long.

* * *

"...You chased a bunny, and it made you lose your friend out from plain sight?"

"Yup! That's about it!"

Millianna shook her head, wondering whether or not to admire Azure's honesty, however stupid it was, or just to call her a plain idiot. "Hey, do you know the way out of this forest?"

"No, but Samuel has the map, so if we can find him, he should be able to lead us out!"

The Mermaid Heel Mage groaned, suffering a major headache. Great, not only did she have low Magic Power, but she's stuck here even further. On the bright side, she does have a temporary ally to accompany with until they get out of this mess. An extremely strong one at that.

"Alright, then how about we team up for a little bit until we find your friend and get out of here?" suggested Millianna, seeing how there was no other choice.

"Yeah! Yeah! Okay! I'll be looking forward to working with you, cat lady!" agreed Azure, offering her hand.

"Er...right." Not used to shaking hands with unfamiliar people, Millianna declined shaking her hand. "By the way, I'm from a guild named Mermaid Heel. Ever heard of it?"

"Um...Mermaids wear shoes?"

Millianna was so amazed how dumb the boy really was. "No. It's a famous-"

"Oh wait! Sorry! It's that all-girls guild, right?"

_'Well, at least he remembered at the last second,' _Millianna thought to herself. "Yeah, you're right. Kagura-chan's the strongest in the guild! But I'm pretty strong too!"

"Hey! I'm strong too! Maybe the strongest in all of Fairy Tail!"

Surprised, Millianna stared down at the boy. "Wait, you're from Fairy Tail? Huh, you're a bit far from that guild aren't ya?"

"Well, me and Samuel just got back from a mission, so we were heading home and we heard the forest was a shortcut. What about you, Millianna?"

"I was trying to find a shortcut too, but I...ended up being lost." Millianna's head dropped, shameful of herself for making such a bad decision without thinking of the consequences.

"Ha ha!" Not insulting her, Azure patted Millianna's head gently, comforting her. "Don't worry! I was lost too, so that makes us equal!" Noticing Millianna's messy hair resembled cat ears in a way, the young Fairy Tail wizard grabbed the lookalike cat ears and pulled on them out of curiosity.

"YWOOOOOWWWWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Gah! Sorry!"

"DO THAT AGAIN AND I'LL SCRATCH YOUR EYES OUT!"

"Okay! Okay!"

Sighing, Millianna sheathed her claws and crossed her arms, making somewhat a pouty face as she turned away from Azure. "...By the way, thanks."

"Huh? For what?"

"You know, for saving me back there. I was low on Magic Power and would probably be finished off if you haven't saved me. So, thanks. BUT!" Millianna faced Azure, leaning close to her face with a threatening look on her face. "Even though I owe you, don't expect your reward to be anything big or perverted!"

"Reward, huh?" Stepping back for more space, Azure crossed her arms and was lost in thought. "Hmm...if I wanted a reward...Well, it's like those heroic shining knights in armor moments, right? Like, the hero knight saves the princess and all." With a grin, she teasingly joked, "Well, you could wrap your arms around me! Haha!"

"O-Oh piss off, loser!" hissed Millianna, giving Azure a more scary death glare as Azure giggled to herself. "L-let's just get out of here!"

"Ok, Princess Millianna-chan!"

Azure's teasing soon screeched to a halt when Millianna shoved her sharpened claws _very _close to her face. The tomboy gulped and sweat began to form all over her forehead.

"Say that to me again, and you'll totally regret it! I don't like perverted guys, especially innocent-looking guys like you!"

"Y-yes ma'am..."

* * *

_With Samuel... _

_'Maybe the fish is fully cooked now,' _thought Samuel as he started walking back to his small campsite for lunch. Before, he had caught a few fishes on his own and placed them over the fire to cook them as he tried to find fresh water instead of the salty river water he found.

However, when he got back, he never expected to see a couple of tiger-like monsters wolfing down on HIS catch of fish. In fact, that just enraged Samuel more.

Pushing his glasses up, Samuel slowly approached them with a dark aura surrounding him. "You...You just ate my lunch. Prepare to _die." _

* * *

_Much, much later... _

"Hmm? What are these?" wondered Azure, picking up small, tattered bags after she and Millianna defeated some monsters who happened to have them.

Picking one up, Millianna peeked inside one of them before her expression changed into a pained and sorrowful one. "Oh...Azure, it's kinda hard for me to say this, but...I think these belong to travelers who were...killed in the forest."

It took only a few seconds for Azure to realize what the Mermaid Heel mage meant. According to Samuel, lots of Mages and travelers lose their lives in accidents, missions, and other dangerous situations, and this one was no different. Those bags probably belonged to other Mages, who supposedly died by the hands of the monsters in the forest or something.

Azure was snapped out of her lonely thoughts when she heard some things drop to the ground and saw Millianna dumping all the things in the unowned bags towards the ground. "Uh...what are you doing?"

"Well, I figured since the owners are...long gone, they won't need their supplies anymore. We might need whatever they have anyways."

There wasn't much in the bags but a few crumbs, some bandages, scrap pieces of paper, and some weird red candy canes that Millianna has never seen before. Curious, Azure sat down on the ground and placed one of the candy canes into her mouth, startling Millianna.

"Hey! Don't just put weird stuff into your mouth! It could be poisonous!"

"Hmm? But it tastes good!"

"Wait, really?" Seeing how Azure was perfectly in good condition after eating the weird candy cane, Millianna picked one up and also placed it in her mouth before started to lick it like a lollipop.

It didn't take long for Millianna to take in the spicy, hot taste.

Millianna cried out from the spicy taste, spitting out the small contents of the candy she tried to swallow before coughing and pounding her own stomach. "Gah! That was spicy! How could you like something like that?!"

"Hmm? But it didn't seem all that spicy to me," replied Azure before bitting down on her candy cane. "Hey, if you don't want your candy cane, could I have it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead." Tossing her the candy cane, Millianna couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Azure eating cutely like a hamster. She had to admit, Azure did look cute for a boy.

As the two of them continued exploring, they began telling stories to one another about their adventures or any silly situations they've gotten themselves into. Millianna often bragged about her being the strongest in some of her stories, and one of them happened to be when she fought a giant monster all by herself without the help of her friend, Kagura. One of Azure's stories included how she and her friend Samuel chased after a toad monster because it stoled Samuel's glasses and they ended up in a mud pile in the end. Both their stories were humorous, adventurous, and a bit of the serious note, but still fun.

"Oh! Oh! And there was this one time when I first discovered my old man's secret stash of porn magazines!" said Azure, continuing with her next story.

"Wait, wait, PORN?!" exclaimed Millianna, her eyes wide. "And, 'old man?'"

"Yup! My Dad, Nereus! He's a bit of a pervert, but he's nice!" Winking at the cat-like lady, Azure asked, "Wanna hear the story? It's super funny!"

"A-As long as it isn't inappropriate..."

"Good! Good! Now, let's see..."

* * *

_Azure's flashback..._

_"Stupid old man!" grumbled 6 year-old Azure, going through Nereus' things. "He got me good in training, but next time, I'll be prepared!"_

_Apparently, about an hour ago, Azure and Nereus were in one of their countless training duels they had almost every day. Azure was sure she was much stronger this time, but Nereus not only beat her, but drenched her with so much water, it would be enough to fill a huge bucket._

_"Azure...we'll get in trouble..." whined 5-year old Samuel, peeking around to see where Nereus might be. Back then, he used to be a shy individual who loved studying and tries avoiding trouble, especially with his adoptive father, Nereus._

_"Samuel, he just left! There's no way he could be back in time! Besides, I just need one more minute here!"_

_"But, Azure!"_

_"Hey, what's this?" Picking up a small pile of magazines, Azure dumped them to the ground and started flipping the pages of one of the magazines, seeing various pictures of women that showed off a lot of revealing skin._

_"That's...a lot of women," commented Samuel, his nose starting to trickle down blood. As they were reading, they didn't noticed Nereus sneaking up behind them._

_"Hey! What are you two doing?!"_

_"Gaaaaahhh!" both little kids screamed, dropping the strange magazines they found._

_"Is...is that my collection of porn magazines?!"_

_"She did it!"/"He did it!" Both Samuel and Azure childishly blamed the other, pointing fingers at each other._

* * *

"And then as punishment for sneaking into his stuff, he made the next few days of training extremely hard. Like, he would force me and Samuel to keep swimming for three hours, and have us climb cliffs! If we tried to cheat, he would try to bite our fingers off!"

_'HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!' _Thought Millianna, a bit frightened over what sort of person Nereus was.

"Azure! Azure! Where are you?!" A loud voice echoed throughout the forest, and Azure knew full well who that voice belonged to.

"Ooh! It's Samuel! Samuel! I'm over here! I'm okay!"

Hearing his adoptive sister/friend's voice, it took no time for Samuel to quickly pinpoint her location. "There you are!" he scolded, walking up in front of her. "You've got a lot of nerve, trying to-"

"KYAAAA! KITTY-CAT!~" squealed Millianna. In a flash, she scooped up the small Exceed and embraced him so tightly, his face met with her chest. His cries were muffled as he struggled to get away from this female stranger.

Azure laughed at Samuel's futile efforts to escape. "Wow, looks like you were a cat fan after all, Millianna!"

When Millianna finally had her fun, she released Samuel, who fell to the ground, panting for breath. "W-what...*pant* is going *pant* on?!"

After Azure and Millianna, who introduced herself, explained what had happened between them, Samuel began his side of the story of trying to search for Azure. After a brief scolding to Azure from Samuel, and properly thanking Millianna, and later getting yet another death-embracing hug from her, the trio set out to get out of the forest.

By the time they got out, it was already nightfall, but several stores and restraunts were still open for business. Millianna, Azure, and Samuel's stomachs growled, seeing how they've eaten nothing for hours.

"How about we eat at that place over there?" suggested Millianna, pointing to a nearby shop. "I'll pay, of course, as thanks for helping me out."

"Yay! Of course!" agreed Azure, skipping ahead of Millianna with her arms carrying Samuel as the two of them entered the restaurant.

* * *

**Finished just in time before Christmas ended! Think of this as a Christmas chapter present gift thing for you viewers! I know it's not much action in there, but yeah, I couldn't think of any other means to interact with Millianna.**

**Just to clear some things up, no, Millianna doesn't know Azure's a girl because Azure never actually revealed it or told her. Don't worry, I'll have Millianna know she's a girl later on. And besides, the two girls and Samuel were in the forest for a long time, so they would need to interact with each other to avoid trouble from the monsters and out of boredom.**

**So, that's all! Two more chapters until the 6th GMG! Read and review!**


	12. One Side of A Coin

**Like I said before, two more chapters before the GMG starts! Just wanted to let you guys know!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Whew...used a bit too much Magic there," sighed Romeo as he exited his Magic school. He had been secretly taking fire magic lessons from his teacher, Totomaru, without the knowledge of his father knowing. Not that he needed to know anyways.

Romeo felt something amiss when he saw some of his male classmates standing on the school side of the wall, looking through the school gate, and whispering to one another. He walked up to two of his classmates and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Some cute-looking girl that's not even from school is here with her motorcycle," gossiped one of his classmates. "It seems like she's waiting for someone here. like maybe her boyfriend! Man, I'm totally jealous of the lucky guy!"

_'No way. It can't be,' _thought Romeo, shaking his head in denial. Before he left for school, Romeo had agreed to go on a mission with Azure right after school since Samuel was going away on another mission with some other guild members and wanted someone to look after the troublesome tomboy.

However, he didn't expect her to actually be waiting for him outside of school like someone waiting to pick up their loved one. Wait, why was he thinking of that?!

Knowing Azure ever since she got here, Romeo should have expected something like this, yet it still acted as an unexpected thing to do. Then again, it could just be another girl waiting for her boyfriend. Besides, Azure almost never takes off her trademark hat, which causes other people to mistake her as a boy, a lot.

Romeo peered from the group of boys, and his face fell in annoyance and embarrassment. It was definitely Azure with her Magic Motorcycle, except for some reason, she wasn't wearing her hat today like usual.

Knowing full well that he'd have to face her eventually, he stepped forward and cleared his throat, bringing Azure's attention as she smiled brightly at him. "Oh, welcome back, Romeo."

Seeing how the mysterious girl and Romeo had some sort of connection to each other, the boys and nearby girls started whispering excitedly to each other, a few teasing and jealous remarks here and there as they continued watching. Romeo knew well enough that he would have to answer a lot of questions the next time he returned to school, and possibly rumors will start to spread.

Stomping up to Azure, Romeo hissed, "What are you doing here? I know I agreed to come with you, but I didn't know we'd meet like this!"

"Well, there was actually two reasons why I had to come here," replied Azure, fishing her hands into her coat pocket. "One, I couldn't wait to get to our request! And two, you forgot your lunch, and Master told me to deliver it to you." Azure took off her backpack and took out a small boxed bento personally made by Kinana, who cooked the lunch.

Romeo facepalmmed himself. He knew the moment lunch began that he had forgotten about his lunch and was starving for hours since he didn't have any money to buy lunch. As proof, the boy's stomach growled loudly, enough for Azure to hear and cause Romeo to blush furiously.

"...Let's just get going." Sitting in the back seat, the red-faced Romeo sat on the back seat and waiting for Azure to sit in the front of her motorcycle. After watching her sit and strap the SE-Plug onto her wrist, he wrapped his arms around her waist, still uncomfortable due to the fact that she was still a girl.

"You ready to go yet, Romeo?"

"...Just don't go as fast as last time. Please?"

"Well, since you did say 'please,' I suppose I'll allow it. Just this once, though."

"Fine, fine. Whatever."

Oh why did Romeo have to accept the quest in the first place? Especially with Azure, out of all people?

* * *

_A few hours later... _

Romeo had to admit, Azure picked some very good places to rest whenever she wanted to restore her fatigue and Magic Power. The place she picked was in some sort of small, green valley, but the sight of no clouds in the sky blue skies, and the warm sun's heat radiating upon him felt heavenly. Romeo felt his eyebrows flutter and slowly closed as he soon fell asleep on the soft, green grass.

Tired from usage of too much Magic Power, Azure sat on the grass on top of a hill and started drinking a refreshing water bottle. Growing sleep, Azure finished the rest of her water before laying on the grass like it was some cozy bed and falling asleep. If there were some sort of danger, her Dragon Slayer senses would pick it up.

Grumbling a bit in his sleep, Romeo began tossing and turning in his sleep, trying to find a better location to sleep on while being asleep himself. Eventually, he slowly and unconsciously rolled himself near Azure and stopped moving.

About a short time later, Romeo's dozing eyes slowly flew open, and the first sight he saw was Azure sleeping right near him.

"Aaaah!" Unable to stop himself from crying out, Romeo sat up and scootched away from Azure, who had a peaceful look on her face. Too tense to say anything, Romeo's sleeping fatigue disappears in a flash.

Trying to recall what happened before he fell asleep, Romeo couldn't help but think that Azure was truly adorable-looking while she was sleeping. Not only her appearance, but her troublesome, yet harmless actions whenever she tries cheering up people were adorable as well.

_'Wait, WHY AM I THINKING LIKE THAT?!' _thought Romeo, shaking his head frantically as he blushed. Maybe he didn't hate her, but he still didn't like her, even if she was a guild member!

Annoyed even further, Romeo leaned forward and started poking her in the forehead. "Hey. Hey, Usagi! Wake up-"

**CRUNCH! **All of a sudden, Azure bit Romeo's finger out of the blue. Not only that, but she had sharp teeth, so that added more to the pain Romeo was experiencing.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Romeo started frailing his arm around, trying not to get his finger bitten off until Azure finally woke up due to his screams.

"Hmm?" It took less than two seconds for her to realize what was happening before she spitted out Romeo's intacted finger. "Blah! Gross!"

"I should be saying that! Who bites someone's hand while they're sleeping?!" exclaimed Romeo, tending to his injured finger.

Answering the question, Azure pointed to herself.

"I was being rhetorical! Ugh, never mind! Let's just go!"

* * *

_A few more hours later... _

Romeo decided; This will definitely be the LAST time he ever goes on requests with a Dragon Slayer by the name of Azure. He was growing more and more infuriated with her in both a good and bad way, and he didn't know why! Heck, he probably didn't want to know! Sighing, he took out the request form that Azure had personally chosen.

**Request: Would someone please help a dear poor old lady find two rings in a forest? They're both the same, only the stones are different colored. One's red, and the other's blue. Last I recall, I lost them in the Evergreen Forest while on a walk. Whatever you do, do not put on both rings. Reward: 500 Jewels and an nicely knitted scarf. **

After arriving at the entrance of the Evergreen Forest, Azure had chained her motorcycle to a tree so that nobody would steal it. Now, Romeo was regretting letting Azure take the lead since they were obviously going in circles, literally.

"Hey, Usagi! We've taken this route too many times!"

"I know where I'm going, Romeo! Trust me!"

"No, we've been going in circles! I've seen that same mushroom over and over!"

"...Probably a different one that looks the same."

"Can't you at least take a different direction then?"

Sighing, Azure stopped and nodded at Romeo before she started to climb a tall tree. If she got to higher grounds, she might spot something abnormal while trying to search for the two rings. As she carefully climbed up the tough bark, she was tackled from behind by something, causing her to release her grip on the tree and started falling, and also for the skin of her fingers to be scratched at unintentionally.

Romeo was still below, waiting for Azure to return when he heard a screech, causing him to look up and see something approaching from above. "What's that...?"

Then, the object fell towards the bushes head on from above, revealing to be an unstable Azure with some sort of monkey monster that appears to be unconscious. Azure seems to be groaning in pain from the impact of the fall, and her fingers were bleeding badly. She was just lucky the bushes below saved her.

Panic filled Romeo's heart as he rushed towards Azure's side, shaking her uncontrollably. "Hey! Hey! You alright?!"

Azure's eyes were still closed, but her heartbeat and breathing seemed to be stable, and besides the minor injuries she suffered from the fall, she seemed to be alright, though her back bones and ribs were so close to breaking from the fall.

To make matters worse, a group of monkey monsters arrived, enraged at the fact that one of their friends were injured. Screeching out battle cries, some of them ran forward into battle without thinking, wanting to avenge their fallen ally.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" complained Romeo as he readied his magic to fight back. Bringing forth blue flames to his fists, Romeo charged towards one of the monkey monsters, ducking a punch from it before upper cutting it with his fist, making the monkey monster's head frozen from the effects of the Blue Fire flames.

Three more monkey monsters worked together and ran towards Romeo, hoping that their numbers might leave Romeo to an disadvantage. Thinking things through, Romeo threw a variety of Yellow Fire at the ground, surrounding himself with a circle of nasty, smelly fire.

Due to having sensitive noses, the three monkey monsters stood back, covering their noses from the smell. Smirking, Romeo leaped over the small, nauseating fires and swing a fistful of actual, red fire at all three of them.

However, Romeo's assault wasn't finished. He stepped on a monkey monster's tail purposely, hearing the monster's cry before punching it in the face, grabbing it by the shoulders, and throwing it out of the battlefield. He received a painful jab by one of the two other monkey monsters, making him cringe in pain before enduring the pain and continue throwing punches that the agile monkey monsters could dodge. Finally, Romeo delivered a hit at one of the monsters and threw it at its ally, tossing both of them to the ground.

Azure's eyelids went wide open, and, although pain was registered throughout her body, she managed to stand up and see what was going on. Romeo was fighting a small group of monkey monsters by himself, and even though he was skilled in battling, he was being overwhelmed by the number of monkey monsters, which was about 7 or 8 of them.

Eyes turning cold and serious, Azure unsheathed her sword before leaping forward to join the battlefield. Making a surprise entrance, Azure slashed at two monkey monsters not too deeply, but still enough to inflict pain onto them. Only two down, about six more to go.

Surprised at Azure's entrance, Romeo couldn't help but examine Azure's body in case of injuries. Her clothing was a little ripped up, but the most notable thing about her right now was how she was gripping the hilt of her sword so tightly, the cuts and scratches on her fingers were bleeding out and flowing down her sword.

Before he could tell her how stupid she was for trying to help in such a bad shape, he had to deal with some other monkey monsters who were trying to pounce on him. He cartwheeled out of the way in time to avoid two monkey monsters before kicking one of them in the chest and sending it away. He then summoned purple sticky fire into his palms before leaping onto a tree and using the stickiness of his purple fire to climb up.

As Romeo was climbing upwards, some of the monkey monsters followed him and were gaining more speed since they were better tree climbers. As soon as he gained some distance, Romeo jumped off the tree and tackled one of the monkey monsters to the ground with all his strength, escaping with minor injuries from the fall.

Meanwhile, Azure was taking care of her share of the monkey monsters much better than Romeo, having already taken out most of her share. She then flipped backwards into the air and landed on top of a monkey monster before the last two monsters proceeded to strike at her together. After deflecting several slash attacks from the two monkey monsters, Azure quickly made good work of them by using her martial arts techniques to knock them off their guard before finishing them off with a few quick and strong jabs of her blade.

When the rest of the monkey monsters ran away, Romeo rushed towards Azure, who now sheathed her sword. Without warning, he grabbed her wrists and glanced at her fingers, which were bleeding even more badly than before.

"Uh...what are you doing?" asked Azure, puzzled.

"You're injured! Why did you even bother fighting if you were more injured than me? You were lucky you survived that fall!" argued Romeo, tearing off part of his open jacket to provide as bandages. He began to wrap the bandages around her fingers and managed to stop the bleeding.

"Thanks! But, there is a stream over there," said Azure, pointing to a small stream nearby. She pulled away from Romeo's grasp and rushed towards the stream, not hesitating to place her bandaged fingers into the water. Although it stinged, the automatic healing process seemed to be working for Azure.

"Oh...right, I knew that." Embarrassed, Romeo looked away and started searching around the small area to find berries to munch on since he was starving. Soon, he found some sort of small ring with a red stone before picking it up curiously.

Seeing how he had no pockets or anything to hold the strange ring right now, Romeo put it on his index finger for safekeeping. It seemed he found the first part of the ring, like the request said. All he and Azure had to do was find the second ring, and not put it on in case something bad might happen. The request form did say not to put both rings on, but nothing about one ring.

In the meantime, Azure had already completely healed her fingers by placing them in the water and concentrating on her healing spell, the blood being washed away deep within the waters. After drying her wet hands, Azure noticed a small ring with a blue stone in the dirt, so she grew curious and put it on.

At the same time, both Azure and Romeo grunted in pain, feeling something wrong as their bodies trembled and were stunned briefly. Before they knew it, both of them blacked out.

* * *

_Around sunset... _

Groaning in pain, Romeo rubbed his head as he got up from the ground, suffering a major headache. The next thing he saw was unbelievable, and he still thought he was still in a dream.

Romeo saw himself, as in his own BODY, walking back and forth and examining HIS own body curiously. If that was him over there, but he was Romeo, then who...?

Eyes widening, Romeo rushed towards the stream to glance at his reflection while the sunset's light was still up. He was a little bit taller than what he was supposed to be, but thinner with long dark hair. His skin was light and very soft with cute, blue eyes.

His eyes widened at astonishment when he realized what his full appearance was.

"What...WHAT THE HELL?!"

What was being reflected in the water happened to belong to Azure's body, but it seems that Romeo was somehow possessing it. That meant that the person possessing his original body was Azure!

"Huh?" Azure, in Romeo's body, finally noticed Romeo, who was in her body. "Oh, sleep well, Romeo?"

Since Azure was using Romeo's body, his voice was a bit lighter and more perky, considering what a cheerful and laidback person Azure was. Romeo hadn't been cheerful for over the past 6 years, and he hated seeing his own body acting like when he was a kid.

Gritting his teeth, Romeo marched towards Azure and shook her by the shoulders. "How did this happen?! Why are you in my body, and I in yours?!"

"Hey, don't get all upset on me!" pouted Azure, crossing her arms. "I don't know either. I was as shocked as you when I woke up in your body!"

_'You don't SOUND shocked, though,' _thought Romeo. "Wait a minute! Did you do anything to my body while I was still asleep?!"

Even Romeo could see through her lie as she twiddled her fingers around and tried to avoid his gaze. "...No..."

"..."

"..."

"...Alright! Alright! All I did was look at my new body, and I said some things that YOU would never say!"

"Like...?"

"Like, 'Azure is awesome!' 'She's the best!' 'Azure's way better than Romeo!' Yeah, those sort of stuff!"

Romeo sighed in relief, despite the fact that he was annoyed by her childish antics. At the very least, she didn't do any physical harm to his own body.

"I wonder what could have caused us to switch bodies all of a sudden," wondered Romeo outloud. Not only did he and Azure switch bodies, but he was stuck in a female body, which happened to be Azure! He was way too embarrassed to be thinking straight, but at least he was trying.

"Probably the rings," replied Azure, holding up her one of her fingers, which had the red stone ring. "I noticed you had one too, only in blue color."

"The rings...?"

Staring at his own, or rather, Azure's hand, Romeo could conclude that before they switched bodies, Azure must have put on the other ring they were supposed to track down. There was no clear proof, but it was the only logical theory they had.

The two rings must have been magic rings that would allow two people to switch bodies if they wore one of the magical rings each. That would explain why the requester wanted the rings back, so that the power wouldn't be misused. Once the body switching process begun, Azure and Romeo probably felt the effects of their souls switching and blacked out from the pain.

"Hey! If the rings are the ones that turned us like this, maybe we should take them off!" suggested Azure.

"No, wait!" Romeo grabbed Azure's wrist tightly, causing her to stop. "Don't touch the rings! We don't know what kind of effects they'll have if we take them off! For all we know, we could stay like this permanently if we remove the rings!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Quickly, Romeo pulled away, blushing since he touched a girl's wrist, even if the body happened to be his own. "A-Anyways! Let's go find the old lady! Maybe she has a way of reversing this!"

Looking at the red-filled skies slowly darkening, Azure spoke up, "Dude, it's almost dark out. We'll encounter more monsters if we wander in the dark. Trust me, I've had my share of fighting monsters in the night time lots of time, and they were dangerous! Let's just sleep for the night!"

Noticing that it was almost night time, Romeo nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll go gather some wood and make a fire, and you go fishing. With your Water Dragon-"

"Did you forget? You're in my body, so that means YOU have my powers. At the same time, I have your awesome Rainbow Fire magic!" cheered Azure. "I always wanted to eat Rainbow Fire! Sweet!"

"No! No!" cried out Romeo, rushing to her. "I'm not a Dragon Slayer! I. CANNOT. EAT. FIRE. How about this? I'll go fishing, and you go get wood, alright?"

"Okie dokey!" said Azure, skipping off into the forest.

After the former Water Dragon Slayer left, Romeo checked to make sure no one was around or watching. When the coast was cleared, he began...touching his new female body. It felt strange, and embarrassing, but all the more reason why he didn't want anyone to see him.

Carefully, he began touching his own chest, but felt only flatness, with a hint of softness as well. Romeo never touched a girl's chest before, since he wasn't some pervert like his father, but for some reason, Romeo was enjoying the feeling and smoothness of his chest.

_'GAH! What am I doing?!' _thought Romeo, who stopped what he was doing and was turning red in the face. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice Azure coming back with a pile of sticks in her arms.

"Romeo? What are you doi-"

"AAAAAHHH!" Hearing Azure, Romeo jumped and screamed like a girl, surprised at her approach.

"Jeez! What did I- Wait, Romeo. Your nose is bleeding."

"Huh?" Placing a finger near his nostrils, Romeo saw a bit of blood in his finger and felt blood trailing down his nose. That most likely happened when he was touching his-or rather, Azure's body.

"Are you hurt?" Azure's face, specifically, Romeo's facial expression was full of concern.

"I-I'm fine!"

* * *

_That night... _

"It's getting late," yawned Romeo before laying on the grass. "We should get some rest for tommorow."

"Not yet! I have to go to the bathroom! I'll be right back!" called Azure before taking off into the woods.

"Wait!" shouted Romeo, sitting up. "What if you get lost?!"

"Don't worry! I'll just use my Dragon senses!"

"But we already switched bodies!" Unfortunately for Romeo, Azure was possibly too far away to hear him. Shrugging his shoulders and thinking Azure was strong on her own, Romeo began to sleep.

Suddenly, there was a ringing in his ears, which he soon realized to be a high-pitched scream soaked with pure terror and horror.

_'Azure?!' _Trying not to think of the worse, Romeo got up and started to run towards the source of the scream. For once, he was thankful that he was in Azure's body, because he could use her Dragon Slayer senses to track down the original Azure.

However, when Romeo spotted Azure, her appearance gave him a slight shock. Before, Azure was always full of that confident and easy going attitude, but now, here she was, in his body, leaning against a tree, her head lowered, and clutching the sides of her head with trembling fingers.

Cautiously, Romeo gently tapped her shoulder, and he was surprised to see her shrink back timidly. He then grasped her chin, hearing a whimper from her, before carefully lifting it up to look at her face.

It was a look of dreadful fear, and also, tears were falling down her cheeks silently as she sniffed and whimpered.

To Romeo, it felt...rather strange to see her like this, seeing how this was his body she was possessing. But, fear, pain, and concern filled Romeo's chest at the mere thought of what Azure would look like with that sort of unforgettable expression, in her own body, of course.

"What...what's wrong?" asked Romeo softly, as if trying not to hurt a small animal. He never was good at comforting girls, but he couldn't just ignore Azure, even if she was annoying.

Forcing a smile, Azure replied, "Nothing's wrong! I'm alright! Really!"

Her trembling body and look of fear and sorrow in her eyes begged to differ.

Angered how Azure was completely denying her feelings and how pitiful she looked, Romeo punched her in the shoulder so hard, he heard her cry out in pain. "What is wrong with you?!" he yelled, his tone laced in anger. "Why don't you look in a mirror and-"

The hand he punched with was quickly covered by two frail hands, causing the boy to stop ranting and stare at Azure even further. He felt her hands were as cold as ice, and as more and more tears fell from her eyes, Romeo heard some sort of dripping sound, causing him to glance down and see that her pants, in his original body, were wet and dripping.

"S-Sorry..." she whispered, lowering her head shamefully.

Raising an eyebrow, Romeo probably figured out what was going on. "Wait, you're crying because you peed yourself? That's-" He was about to say an insult, but froze when he realized something serious was more important than him.

"I..." Gulping down air, Azure continued to speak. "I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I...I couldn't do it."

"Why?"

"The...The...no more...no more...I don't wanna..." Unable to take it anymore, Azure broke down into a fit of uncontrollable sobs as she hid her face into Romeo's chest, which happened to be hers.

"..." If Azure didn't want to talk about it, that was fine. Romeo allowed Azure to cry all she wanted until she eventually calmed down. He helped her walk back to camp before the two of them fell asleep.

* * *

_The next morning... _

"Here we are! The old lady's address!" said Azure, parking her magic motorcycle near a fence as she and Romeo stood in front of a cottage home that was awfully close to the Evergreen Forest. After they ate breakfast, they had used the address in the request form to locate the requester's home.

"...Hey, Usagi?" questioned Romeo, walking up to her. "About yesterday, why did you cry? Was it about the pants? Because I could always get spare ones."

"Hmm? What are you talking about? I didn't cry! Crying is for crybabies!" said Azure confidently.

"You were practically crying yesterday! At first, I thought it was because you peed yourself, but now that I think about it, there's more-"

"Okay, you need to STOP messing around," warned Azure, the tension suddenly turning sharp and serious the moment she laid her cold-hearted eyes onto Romeo's. "You have NO idea what I went through, and frantically, you don't need to. Just back OFF."

His body shivered with fear when he stared at her cold eyes, even though they were technically his. He had seen Azure being serious in battle, but never something like this. Just her sharp tone was enough to shut him up.

Wow, Wakaba was right. Girls were scary.

When the two of them knocked on the door, they were greeted by a frail old lady. "Ahhh! What brings you youngsters here?"

"Morning! We came to return the rings you requested!" said Azure. "...Which we kinda are wearing right now."

Sighing, the old lady shook her head. "Didn't I clearly stated in the form not to wear them? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"...Sorry," both Romeo and Azure apologized, looking ashamed of themselves, and quite embarrassed.

Without warning, the old lady grabbed both rings from their fingers, causing great pain to awaken within their bodies. In a matter of seconds, they felt themselves back in their own bodies!

"Ha! Told ya we should have taken off the rings!" laughed Azure, proud of herself.

"Here you go." The old lady gave both of them a small bag full of the reward money, along with the orange knitted scarf before bidding them farewell.

"Usagi?"

"Yes, Romeo?"

"...I'm sorry about making you upset. Hope you're alright."

"Awww! That is so cute, you apologizing to me like that!~"

"D-Don't get used to it, stupid Usagi!"

"How rude! But..." Taking the orange scarf from Romeo, Azure began to wrap the scarf around his neck before stepping back. "There! Now you look way cooler than before! You should keep it!"

Romeo placed a hand on his scarf, about to take it off. "I'm not-"

Just one look at Azure's cute puppy dog eyes was enough to convince the Rainbow Fire magic user.

"...Fine! Only because I uh...find the scarf comfty!"

"Yay!"

* * *

**There is actually a good reason why Azure acted that way, but in order to reveal her past, it needs to be Rated M, which won't be in this story anytime soon. But the rating will change soon! ...In a couple of chapters.**

**I got an idea after seeing Romeo's scarf since he wanted to be like Natsu. So, I came up with this cute way of how he got his scarf and ended up with it!**

**Only a few more chapters until the GMG, guys! Read and review!**


	13. Grand Magic Games: Castle Maze

**You know what? I changed my mind about the extra chapter! Instead, how about we get the GMG arc started right now?**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

Azure was humming to herself as she was carrying a bag of groceries in her frail arms, holding them up with ease. She had been doing a bit of shopping for Kinana since the purple-haired woman was busy, and was delighted to help.

"Lector? Frosch is tired...and hungry!"

"Don't worry, Frosch! I know where I'm going! We'll find Sting-kun and Rogue-san soon!"

"Hmm?" Azure turned around and saw a small red-colored Exceed holding hands with a green-colored Exceed wearing a frog suit. They seemed to be lost, seeing how they were in the middle of the streets. Walking up to them, Azure asked, "Excuse me? Do you need help?"

Meanwhile, a blond-haired man and his dark, serious-looking companion were roaming around town, searching for their other small companions. "Damnit! Where could they have gone?!" complained the blond-haired man, frantically worried.

"It's your fault you know," said the black-haired man plainly, though he was constantly worried about his lost companions as well. "Sting, I was only gone for about 5 minutes. What happened?"

"Hey, don't pin the blame all on me, Rogue! I only looked away for one second, and they were gone!"

"And you're pretty lucky that I didn't kill you right there and-"

"Sting-kun! Rogue-san!" Both males heard a very familiar voice before they turned to the source of that voice. They saw their lost Exceeds, Lector and Frosch, being held up by a petite and slim-looking boy, who was also holding up groceries in his arms. Both Exceeds seemed to be nibbling on cookies.

"Lector!"

"Frosch!"

Sting and Rogue rushed towards the trio as Azure placed both her groceries and Exceeds on the ground. Once their feet landed on the cement, they rushed towards their owners, happily hugging them while their mouths were full of cookies.

"Frosch is sorry, Rogue," sniffed Frosch, feeling sorry. "Frosch wanted to see something shiny, and bought Lector along. We're sorry!"

Rogue sighed, ruffling his Exceed's head. "It's alright. Just don't do it again, okay?"

After hugging Lector, Sting placed him down before turning to Azure, who was gathering her groceries off the ground. "Hey, thanks man. I'm Sting, and he's Rogue. You need help with that?"

"Sure, thanks!"

Sting scooped up the last grocery bag and handed it to Azure, before noticing the Fairy Tail insignia on her left hand. "Wait, you're from Fairy Tail?"

Azure glanced at her insignia, remembering how Kinana took her gloves and replied that she was only going to wash them today. "Huh? Yeah, I'm from Fairy Tail!"

The blond-haired man scoffed, looking away. "Yeah, well...thanks again anyways. Let's go, guys."

"Sting, don't be rude," Rogue scolded lightly, knowing fully well that Sting doesn't like anyone associated with Fairy Tail. Unlike him, Rogue didn't really seemed to care if Azure was a Fairy Tail member or not.

"Uh...did I say something wrong?" asked Azure, a bit taken aback from Sting's sudden change of attitude.

"Nothing of the sort," said Sting, looking annoyed. "But why would you join the weakest guild of all time?"

That comment quickly irritated Azure and made her go all huffy. "Hey! Don't call the guild weak! What would you know anyways?! It's not like you've actually joined anyways."

"You're right on that part, but seriously, the guild is weak! I'm surprised that some kid like you would waste his time on such a weak guild."

"For the last time, stop calling the guild weak!"

As the two of them were arguing, Rogue, Frosch, and Lector stood in the sidelines, watching the two. Rogue sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. _'Why am I even friends with that guy?' _he thought, referring to Sting.

"Oh yeah? How do you know, huh? You've never even battled with any of the members! Hell, you've never fought me!"

"I don't need to fight your puny members to know how strong you guys are! Your reputation tells it all! In fact, you're going to fail in the games like in every year!"

"The games?" questioned Azure. "What games?"

"The upcoming Grand Magic Games, of course! But every year, Fairy Tail always ends up last!" taunted Sting. "I'm betting this year they'll be last too!"

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that! You're on, uh...stupid jerk!"

"Ha! I could have come up with a way better insult than that, scumbag!"

"Ugh! It's already been like, five minutes, and I already hate your guts, man!" growled Azure, looking ready to ravage the blond-haired man anytime.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" called Sting, walking away.

Quickly, Azure thought of a good insult. "Fairy Tail will compete in the games, and you'll be sorry you ever insulted the guild, you...you blond bimbo!"

Sting froze in his tracks, slowly turning around with a red aura enveloping his body. "WHAT. WAS. THAT?"

Azure stuck her tongue out and ran off with the groceries in her arms, calling out, "Nyah! Nyah! You're a dumb blond bimbo!"

Now Sting's rage had reached to very extreme. "That does it! I'm gonna tear him apart, limb to limb, and then-"

"Sting, calm down. No need to throw an tantrum."

"But Rogue-!"

"No, Sting. You're acting like a child."

* * *

_Later, in the guild... _

"Please? Please, please, please, please, PLEASE?!"

"No, for the last time, no!"

Ever since Azure returned to the guild, she's been begging Macao to allow the guild to enter the Grand Magic Games, a topic which the Guildmaster immediantly refused. Azure tried to convince him in many ways to change his mind, such as offering to do chores and such, run more errands, do more missions, help the payment for the guild more, or even promising not to complain anymore. She even had to go down on her knees to beg.

Most of the guild members, noticably Romeo and Macao, disagreed on going. However, some of them were widely convinced. "I think we should do it," suggested Kinana. "I mean, we do have a Dragon Slayer and an Exceed on our side, so that strengthens our side a bit."

"Yes, but brute strength does not always win a battle," replied Samuel, who was reading a book.

Agitated, Azure stood up and turned to her best friend. "Hey! Whose side are you on anyways?!"

"Yours, of course. I'll happily go to the Grand Magic Games if you want, Azure, but I'm not sure about the others."

"But we have to go!"

"Why do you even want to go?" asked Romeo, looking bored and crossing his arms. "I mean, we're just going to end up losing again."

"With me and Samuel on your side, we'll be extremely useful!" assured Azure. "If we do compete, Fairy Tail's reputation might increase, even a little, and also, I'll finally show that no-good Sting who's boss!"

Max dropped his coffee cup, which shattered when it made contact with the ground. "Wait, Sting?! You mean, tall, has spiky blond hair?"

Azure looked a bit surprised. "Yeah, that fits the description...but, how do you know him, Max?"

Romeo slammed his hands against the table. "Are you nuts?! Did you pick a fight with Sting, one of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth?!"

"Well...I didn't exactly fight him physically."

"Oh good!"

"But I did call him a blond bimbo!"

"Gah! You idiot!" Romeo picked up Azure by the shirt collar, dangling her in the air. "Do you realize what you just did?!"

"Whoa, Romeo!" cried out Jet, standing up.

"Calm down!" shouted Max, placing Romeo's arms down so that Azure could be lowered back into the ground.

"Why? What's going on? What are the Twin Dragons?" asked Azure, now more confused about the situation.

Samuel sighed, closing his book. "I figured you were dense. The Twin Dragons are two of Sabertooth's most strongest members. They're two members, and their names are Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney. They're both Dragon Slayers, just like you, Azure."

"Oh, wow! That's so cool!"

"So not cool," replied Laki. "They belonged in Sabertooth, the most strongest guild in all of Fiore, so naturally, they're very powerful."

"Cool! I'll kick their asses when we're in the Grand Magic Games!"

While some of the members facepalmmed, Macao shouted, "Did you not listen to what I just said?! I said, we're not going, and that's final!"

"Dude, it's just two guys. I'm pretty sure me and Samuel can handle them, master!"

"Wait, what?" Samuel looked up from his book, hearing his name being called.

"There's more than them, you know," reminded Warren. "There'll be other guilds competing as well, and we always end up last!"

"But that'll all change!" argued Azure. "Look, I know you're all scared-"

"Discouraged is more like it," murmured Droy sadly.

"Anyways! I know you're all scared, AND, discouraged, and I'm still not sure what troubles are ahead, but if there's one thing I know, it's this," started Azure before taking a deep breath. "Life, is like delicious chocolate chip cookies..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone waited for Azure to continue after she made that dramatic pause. "...And?" called out Romeo.

"No, that's pretty much it."

Macao sighed out of exhaustion, and said, "Well, whatever! I say we're still not going, Azure!"

"But-!"

"No buts! And there's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise! Nothing!"

* * *

_Next week... _

"How the hell did you convince me to do this?!" demanded Macao, stunned as he and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild arrived in Crocus, fully equipped for the Grand Magic Games.

"Do you really want me to answer that, Master?" teased Azure, grinning like a Chesire Cat.

"..." Romeo still seemed pretty disturbed and uncomfortable after arriving in Crocus. After all, Fairy Tail always did end up in last place, and he didn't want to be humiliated again.

"Everyone knows about the whole plan, right?" announced Macao, holding up a book. "According to the rulebook, each guild has to be in their lodgings by 12:00. Until then, I suppose everyone's free to do what they want."

"Warren, Max? Do you want to go to the library with me?" asked Laki.

"Sure, got nothing to do anyways," replied Max as Warren nodded before the two of them followed after the purple-haired beauty. Everyone else split up to go their separate ways. Nab, Kinana and Vijetter went to check out gift shops, Alzack and his family decided to spend quality family time together, and Macao and Wakaba, being the good friends they are, decided to hang out with each other, leaving only Romeo, Azure, and Samuel.

Azure turned to Romeo, who was looking away. "Hey, Romeo! Do you-"

"I'm out!" As fast as he could, Romeo sprinted out of the streets, anything to get away from Azure.

"...Well, that was weird," commented Samuel as soon as the Guildmaster's son left them in the dust.

"Meh," said Azure, shrugging her shoulders. "How about we go explore the city, Samuel? There's tons of places to explore and stuff!"

Samuel nodded in agreement. "True, Crocus is Fiore's largest city after all. Very well, let's take a tour. We've got plenty of time anyways."

For the next several hours, Azure and her Exceed explored various parts of Crocus, venturing into shops, buying a few flowers and snacks for themselves all the while. They even met up with some of their guild members along the way, joining in small conversations before parting ways again.

Later, upon arriving in a small clothes shop, Laki and Kinana spotted Azure and Samuel, who were randomly looking at clothes before the two of them rushed over to them. "Azure! Samuel!" called out Laki, bringing their attention.

"Oh! Laki! Kinana! What's wrong?" asked Azure, seeing the happy looks on the two women.

"We bought some new clothes for you to wear in the Games!" answered Kinana excitedly. At the mention of 'new clothes,' Azure tried to run away, only for the two women and Samuel to tackle her down to the ground instantly.

Samuel sighed as he struggled to keep his adopted sister/best friend down. If there was one thing he knew about Azure, it was that she absolutely _loathed_ shopping. The last time she went shopping with the girls was several months ago, which Azure swore never to shop again. The only reason they were in the clothes shop in the first place was because Samuel himself wanted to see it.

"Azure! It'll be fine!"

"No! No! Last time we went, you tried to put me in a dress!"

"It's not a dress this time!"

"Fine, then it'll probably be a skirt or some sort of school uniform!"

"No, we promise! It's neither of those! It's just light armour that'll probably suit you!"

Samuel rolled his eyes, letting out another exhausted sigh. "Azure, just wear the armour. If you don't like it, you can always take it off."

Azure stopped struggling, finally giving in. "Alright, fine! But if you guys are lying, I'm totally out!"

* * *

_That night, at the lodgings... _

"I have to admit, you look pretty strong with that armor on," admitted Samuel, impressed as Azure kept checking herself out in the mirror.

Like what Laki and Kinana said, Azure's new clothes seemed to have fitted the young teenager just fine. She was equipped with gray-colored half armour, which covered her chest, a dark blue blouse with a sleeveless dark blue windswept robe underneath her armour, and a small belt tied around her waist, in which her scabbard hung on her belt. Her accessories consisted of red linings around her regular clothing, and dark blue fingerless gloves to finish the touch. She still kept her hair hidden in that blue cap of hers, making her look like a strong male warrior.

"This is pretty neat after all!" laughed Azure, feeling very comfortable with her new clothes. "They're pretty light, provide some good defence, and I don't have to trip and encounter any distractions!"

Max, who was laying in one of the beds, glanced at the clock, which was about a few minutes before midnight. "Hey, has anyone seen Romeo? We still need him."

"Don't worry," assured Warren, using his telepathy magic. "I made contact with him and saw him enter the lodgings. He'll be here shortly."

According to the rules, each guild must have a team of five members, and Macao already decided who would support as Team Fairy Tail. The leader would be Azure, due to the fact that she is a Dragon Slayer, then Samuel, Max, Alzack, and finally, Romeo.

The door opened, revealing to be Romeo, Macao, and Warren. When Romeo saw Azure in her new appearance, he blushed red and looked away, though it was pretty obvious for everyone except the innocent-minded Azure what he was thinking.

"Romeo, just what nasty thoughts are you thinking?" teased Max, grinning.

Romeo's face turned as dark as a tomato, looking away as he crossed his arms. "Nothing! It's nothing!"

Azure noticed Romeo's face and grew concerned, walking up to him, oblivious of what her close presence was doing to the boy. "Romeo, are you hurt?" She placed a hand on his forehead, which he slapped her arm away. "Hey! You have a fever!"

"Yeah, a _love_ fever!~" sang Warren.

"What's a love fever?"

Before anyone else could answer, loud bells started ringing all over Crocus, echoing throughout the night until the sounds came to a stop.

**"Attention, all participants of the Grand Magic Games! Welcome to the annual 6th Grand Magic Games!" **

"Well, looks like it's starting," said Macao, walking up to the balcony. Everyone else followed him and saw a projectile of a pumpkin man.

"Wow! Haha! He looks funny!" laughed Azure, loving the pumpkin man's costume.

**"The Grand Magic Games Preliminary round is about to begin! I do hope everyone had a good time in Crocus, because now, all 140 guilds will be fighting for the top 8 spots in the games! This event will be named: Castle Maze!"**

"Just 8 spots?!" exclaimed Azure, shocked. "And that many guilds?! Yikes!"

"Looks like we can't hold back in the preliminary round," muttered Samuel, looking quite serious.

Underneath the hologram of the pumpkin man, some sort of large maze appeared, along with a huge castle in the middle. Not only that, but in every lodgings that every guild was participating in, there was a golden bridge of magic that lead up towards the maze, making countless bridges of light.

**"This is a race against time, folks! There will be a time limit of 1 hour to get to the castle! The first 8 to get there, or at least the less teams that are at the castle before time runs out will continue to the games! But remember that only five members per team can enter! Also, we are not responsible for any unfortunate deaths! Good luck!" **

Immediantly after the pumpkin man's hologram vanished, several teams rushed towards the bridges, racing to get to the maze. "Let's go!" ordered Romeo, making his four team members nod before they took off like the other teams. In the background, their guild members were cheering for them.

"Good luck!"

"You can do this!"

"Go, Fairy Tail!"

"You can win this!"

"For Fairy Tail!"

* * *

_Much, much later... _

"How did you get lost in a straight path? I mean, it's STRAIGHT, for crying out loud!" whined Samuel, staring at Azure, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

"Um...oops?"

Max sighed, scratching his chin. "Look, either way, we were gonna end up lost in this maze anyway, so no need to make a fuss about it."

Alzack turned to Azure, asking, "Hey, Azure? Can't you use your senses to track down the exit?"

"Oh, yeah! Totally forgot about that!" Sniffing the air, Azure tried to find a clue or at least something useful, but nothing. "Er...nothing comes to mind. Hey, wait! Samuel, why don't you just fly up and see if you can locate the castle?"

Everyone stared in shock at the petite Water Dragon Slayer. For once, she thought of something that Samuel never considered!

Samuel wanted to slap himself for overlooking such an important fact. "Oh, right." Flying upwards, Samuel searched around until he managed to trace the path neccessary to lead towards the castle. "I found it! Now, follow me!"

It took several minutes, but eventually, Team Fairy Tail reached the entrance of the huge castle thanks to Samuel's deduction skills. Near the entrance happened to be the pumpkin man announcer from before.

"Romeo Conbolt, Azure Fullbuster, Max Alors, Alzack Connell, and Samuel! Congratulations on making it here! And just in time, because the time limit is now...up!"

At that moment, the bells that occured at midnight started ringing over and over, indicating that the preliminary round was over.

"Yay! We did it!" cheered Azure, hugging Samuel and keeping him close to her chest armour. Max and Alzack looked quite pleased themselves, having made it in time. Seeing Samuel being hugged, Romeo crossed his arms and looked away, obviously jealous.

"Hey, what place are we on?" asked Max curiously to the pumpkin man.

"You're in 6th place!"

"Well, that's not too bad-"

"And since everyone else failed to get here in time, that means only 6 teams will be participating in the games! Henceforth, Team Fairy Tail is in last place!"

"Last place?!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"At least it's better than being in 8th..."

* * *

**Alrighty! Finished with this chapter at long last! Next chapter will be the first day and the start of the Grand Magic Games! Thanks, Elfen Children for your assistance!**


	14. Day 1 Event: Hunt

**Continuing onto the first day of the Grand Magic Games! **

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"You sure you won't take off your scarf, Romeo? It might get in the way of the games," said Max, wearing his new clothes for the games. Each member of Team Fairy Tail were given new clothing, besides Azure who already got hers right before the preliminary round started. The Sand Magic user wore a black vest with a white shirt and tan-colored pants, the clothes being chosen by Kinana.

"I'll be alright," assured Romeo, hiding the blush on his cheeks with his orange scarf, thinking back on the first day he got this. "Besides, it's none of your business anyways." Putting on his light boots, the Rainbow Fire Mage glanced at his appearance in the mirror, seeing how the dark vest and long dark baggy jeans matched him so well, even though the orange scarf around his neck didn't seem to match his colors.

"Teenagers," sighed Alzack, shaking his head while trying to hold back a smile. His attire consisted of a tan-colored poncho with a bright shirt underneath with some tan colored pants and a belt to hold his holsters in.

"Agreed," spoke Samuel, nodding his head. Unlike the others, he didn't change any of his clothing, though he did clean and wash them up beforehand.

Then, the door to one of the rooms Fairy Tail was currently using opened, revealing to be Azure, completely out of breath. She seemed to have been searching all around the stadium, looking for her team.

"Hey guys! The games are about to begin! Master told me to hurry up and get you guys!"

"Well, looks like it's time," said Alzack, standing up from the bed he was sitting in.

**"Now folks, the Grand Magic Games will begin shortly!" **One of the announcers cried out as the cheering in the audience increased, awaiting the new teams. **"I'm your host, Chapati Lola, and right next to me is former council member, Yajima-san, who requested to provide the commentary. As for our quest for today, please welcome a reporter from the Sorcerer Magazine, Luna Forresta!" **

**"So nice to be a guest here, Chapati-san!" **

**"You're welcome! Now, let the chosen teams show themselves!" **

"That's our cue," said Samuel, who was sitting on Azure's shoulder. Team Fairy Tail nodded to themselves as they entered the stadium grounds.

**"Starting with the team arriving in 6th place! Can they triumph even better than last year?! FAIRY TAIL!"**

Instantly, the crowd started booing at the team, showing a lot of disaproval towards them. "Why are they booing?!" exclaimed Azure, shocked. "I mean, we just got here! The least the people could do is at least cheer a little!"

"Well, Fairy Tail is known for being the weakest guild in all of Fiore," answered Max. "It's not unusual for them to act this way. They were like this last year too."

**"By the way, why are they in 6th place?" **wondered Luna. **"Shouldn't there be 8 teams? Chapati-san, what's going on?"**

**"Well, you see, originally, it was supposed to be 8 teams. But since Fairy Tail was the last team to arrive in the preliminary round, and the other teams knocked each other out or didn't arrive in time, there had to be only 6 teams this year. It should be good for Fairy Tail though, since their competition dropped a little."**

"**I agree,"** said Yaijima, nodding his head. **"I also see a few unfamiliar faces, so that must mean Fairy Tail must have obtained some new members. This should be interesting." **

While the rest of the audience was booing at Team Fairy Tail, the only group that wasn't was the rest of the guild themselves, cheering on their comrades happily and excitedly.

"Well, at least we know that Fairy Tail is on our side," said Samuel.

**"Now, let's get on with the team that arrived in 5th place! QUATRO CERBERUS!" **

A new team, namely Team Quatro Cerberus, entered the arena, and appeared to be a group of five wild and rowdy-looking men. They appeared to be strong-looking and like all bad boys.

"Wild..."

"FOUR!"

"Wow! They look pretty strong!" gasped Azure, amazed by how strong they are. "They even got their own cool war cry! Go, Wild Four!"

"Y-yeah?! Well, we're pretty strong too!" reminded Romeo, trying to divert her attention away from the strong guild.

"Be careful," warned Samuel. "I've heard of this guild. They're very well known for their high physical strength, and worse, one of their S-Class wizards, Bacchus Groh, is here."

"Which one?" asked Azure, unfamiliar with any of the members.

"The one that's nearly shirtless and has purple armor on."

"Oh! ...Good luck, Bacchus and your guild!"

"Don't go cheering them on!" scolded Romeo, annoyed.

"It's just Azure, kiddo," sighed Max, as if he was tired. "Won't change a bit if she cheers."

**"In 4th place, coming with the all-female guild, the beautiful girls of the deep sea guild, MERMAID HEEL!" **

"Aah!~ Mermaid Heel girls are just as fabulous as always!" said Wakaba as he and the rest of the men in the cheering group were oogling eyes at the attractive female guild.

"Just because they're women, doesn't mean I'll hold back," murmured Max to himself, staring intently at the girls.

"...You're drooling," spoke Alzack and Samuel together.

"Eh?!"

"Mermaid Heel, huh..." muttered Azure, looking quite upset and a bit angry for some reason.

Romeo noticed and asked, "What's wrong? Realizing how tough they are?"

"Kinda...and the fact that they have big boobs and I'm totally still flat!"

If they were in anywhere other than the stadium, Romeo's nose would have bleed, but instead, he was taken aback. "Too much information!"

One of the members of Mermaid Heel, a cloaked woman, took off her hoodie, revealing to be Millianna. "Azure! Hi!" she called, waving.

"Oh, hi, Millianna!"

"How do you know her?!" exclaimed Max, rubbing away his drool.

"We worked together on a mission once! It was fun!"

"Yeah, fun for you maybe. I still remember being sore that day," commented Samuel, shivering from the past events of being squeezed to near death.

**"In 3rd place, deep within the dark and shining with their bright blue wings, BLUE PEGASUS!" **

At that moment, the Trimens and a beautiful blond-haired woman appeared, doing the Blue Pegasus pose as the fangirls and fanboys squealed in admiration at the five of them.

"Looks like more tough competition," commented Alzack, knowing just how tough and famous Blue Pegasus is.

"Oh! It's Ichiya, Ren, Hibiki, and Eve!" pointed out Azure, surprised to see them.

"You know them?" wondered Samuel, who was astonished to learn that his best friend already met the famous Trimens.

"Yup! Me and Kinana went out on a picnic once during the Hanami festival, and we encountered them, and they joined us! But for some reason, Eve wants to crush me."

"...What do you mean?" her male team mates asked, confused.

Azure took a moment to think. "Well...Kinana looked happy and said that Eve liked me and wanted to crush me. Yeah, I'm confused on that."

"What?!" exclaimed Romeo angrily, his palms filled with fire. Alzack, Samuel, and Max knew that Azure was talking about and felt a bit of amusement for Romeo. Looks like a certain stubborn boy was getting some competition.

Just when things got worst, the tension increased when Eve glanced at Azure, causing him to wink and smile brightly at her. While Azure was waving and cheering for Blue Pegasus, Romeo had a sudden urge to run up and ravage on the Snow Magic user.

**"In 2nd place, Fiore's second best guild, LAMIA SCALE!" **

When Team Fairy Tail and the other guilds turned to the famous guild, the only members Azure could recognize was Lyon and Toby, making her smile in joy at seeing them. "Lyon! Doggy man! Good luck!"

"I'M NOT A DOG!"

"Friend of yours?" asked the famous Wizard Saint Jura towards Lyon.

Lyon let out a sigh, smiling slightly. "We met before. Azure's pretty interesting and will be a major threat in the competition."

"I see. I guess I will begin strategizing for our victory then."

"Azure hime-sama!" called out Hibiki as he and the Trimens rushed over to her side, ignoring the rest of her team mates.

Eve kneeled down on one knee, kissing her hand. "It's so good to see you, Azure-chan."

A tick mark appeared on Romeo's forehead, making him crack his knuckles. "Hey, she's our teammate, not yours! So beat it!"

"Whoa, I've never seen Romeo this aggressive before," admitted Max, whispering to Alzack.

"That's what love can do to you," replied Alzack calmly as he smiled. "I was the same way once towards Bisca."

"Huh? Who are you? You're not interesting," said Eve, looking bored towards Romeo as he held Azure's hand securely.

"I know all about you, Eve. I'm her teammate, Romeo, and as long as she's in my team, back off!"

Eve, once remembering that Kinana had told him about someone having an interest for Azure, realized who he is. "Ah...I see," he said, a dark aura projecting around him. "So you're that Romeo person Kinana-san was talking about, huh? That means you're my love rival!"

"L-LOVE RIVAL?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Being a bit protective over his adopted older sister, Samuel asked, "Hey, Azure? Aren't you going to say something?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah! Eve?"

Immediantly, Eve reverted from his hatred towards Romeo towards love mode. "Yes, Azure-chan?"

"Kinana told me you like me, but you also wanted to crush me. Why?"

"W-what?!" Stunned, Eve took a few steps back. "No! I would never want to hurt you, Azure-chan!"

Amused, Romeo smirked darkly and crossed his arms. "Oh? But the way she said it, it did seem like you wanted to crush her."

"Hey! Shut up!" the Blue Pegasus Mage hissed.

"Well, it's nothing to worry about right now anyways!" assured Azure, walking up to Eve and patting him on the head.

Romeo pouted and glanced away. He wanted a pat in the head too. Wait, why did he want that?! Especially from the Usagi?!

"Really?!"

"Yup! Because when we compete in the competition, I promise that I'll crush you first so that you don't crush me, Eve!"

And just like that, all of Eve's confidence of love went down the drain, and Romeo's enthusiasm went up.

"**And now, the first guild to pass the preliminary round! Give it up for...SABERTOOTH!" **

And just like that, the entire crowds started screaming and cheering more loudly than ever as Team Sabertooth made their entrance. The other guilds didn't look too pleased as the powerful guild entered, considering it is the strongest guild in all of Fiore.

"I wonder which body part I should break first," wondered Azure outloud, tapping her foot impatiently.

"What do you mean?!" said Max, shocked that Azure would even consider doing that to a person.

"I mean, which of Sting's body parts should I break first? His ribs? His arm? Decisions, decisions..."

"Why would you even consider that?" asked Alzack, sweatdropping.

"Because if this is the Grand Magic Games, there's bound to be fighting! I wanna beat the crap out of that blond bimbo!"

"You know, I can hear you, you know! Dragon Slayer senses!" The blond-haired Sabertooth member called out, annoyed and ticked off.

"Don't care!"

**"Alright, folks! I'm going to introduce the program for the Grand Magic Games! The first four days will be having a competition, then afterwards, a battle! For each competition, each team has to choose one member to compete. For the battle, we will pick randomly who fights who!" **

"That's gonna be a problem," groaned Max. "If they pick randomly, one of us might end up fighting a very strong opponent and possibly lose. And I don't want to fight any of the Sabertooth members."

"I do!" said Azure excitedly. "Bring it on! I can take on anyone here!"

"We're doomed," sighed Samuel, knowing just how stubborn Azure can be. He knows how strong Azure can be since he has been her friend for a very long time, but he doesn't know all the weaknesses or strong points of nearly everyone in the competition.

**"Now then, let's begin the first event, which is named...'Hunt!' Once every team has chosen their members, the rules will be explained!" **

Afterwards, every guild team quietly decided to choose their own members privately. "I'll go win it for us all!" declared Nobarly from Quatro Cerberus, gaining determination for his guild.

"Just remember one thing!" said Bacchus. " Your spirit is always with...Wild..."

"FOUR!"

**"The first person to step up is Quatro Cerberus' Nobarly!"**

"Kagura-chan! Let me go! Please?" begged a farm girl-like person named Beth.

"Very well then."

**"Next, it's Mermaid Heel's Beth Vanderwood!" **

"As the leader of the Trimens, I say I shall go first!" decided Ichiya, posing once more.

"Yes, sensei! We understand! We will support you!" The Trimens cried out in unison, bowing their heads respectively.

**"Third, here comes Blue Pegasus' Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki!" **

"A hunt, huh? Been a while since I went hunting," said Orga, stretching his muscles. "Alright, why not? I'll cream these guys no problem."

**"Thundering with his powerful fists, Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear!" **

"This is pretty bad..." said Max, who was uneased at the moment. "A Sabertooth member participating is bad enough, but out of all people, it had to be Orga..."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Azure, curious.

"In terms of power, he is the strongest Mage in Sabertooth," explained Samuel. "He is very terrifying to match up."

"Cool! I'm gonna beat him up first!"

"Why?!" shouted Max, not wanting any harm to come to him or his team.

"He's the strongest in Sabertooth, right?"

"Not exactly. He may be strongest physic-"

"Then if I beat him, then I can sure as hell beat the blond bimbo!"

"Quit calling me that!"

"Hold on, we haven't even decided which one of us is going to participate," reminded Alzack. "Let's all calm down and figure this out."

"I think it should be me!" spoke up Azure, raising her hand.

"Oh really?" questioned Samuel, crossing his arms suspiciously. "Give me at least one good reason why. And don't say it's because you want to beat up Orga."

"I wasn't gonna say that, dummy! I was saying, if this event is all about hunting, I can use my senses to try and track down any hunting!"

Alzack seemed surprised as his eyes widen a bit. "That's...actually a good reason. But do you think you can handle Orga?"

"Please, I can take him!"

"...Okay," agreed Samuel. "As much as I dislike this, you're right. Actually, you're pretty much the only person who can smell things out."

"Thanks!"

**"Looks like Fairy Tail's made a decision! And it's the new face from Fairy Tail...Azure Fullbuster!" **

At the mere mention of her last name, the crowd began to murmur among themselves about 'Fullbuster,' since Gray Fullbuster was a famous Ice Mage right before he died. Even the other guilds seemed surprised by her name.

"Fullbuster? As in, Gray-san?" wondered Sting, a bit surprised before grinning excitedly. "This should be fun!"

"Gray Fullbuster...Azure Fullbuster...No, it does not matter even if they happen to have the same last name," muttered Rogue to himself.

"Kagura-chan? What do you think?" wondered a cloaked woman that was part of Mermaid Heel.

"...It may be coincidence, or simply that Azure is only using the name when he could be having a false name. It doesn't matter at this point anyways."

"If Azure's going, then perhaps I should as well," replied Lyon, stepping up.

"Lyon? Why are you so interested in that Azure person?" asked Chelia, pondering about Lyon's decision.

"Azure simply reminds me of Gray, that's why."

**"Last but not least, Lyon Bastia from Lamia Scale takes the stage! Let the games begin!" **

On that note, all six members participating were instantly teleported from their spots due to the effects of small area magic. "Huh?! Where'd they go?!" wondered Romeo, who was as surprised as everyone when the chosen six vanished.

Then, some large cube that was full of lush green forests hovered above the stadium, obviously being created by powerful magic. Everyone immediantly looked up at the cube, which was soon barricaded with images being seen from hidden cameras to show what the participants were doing.

* * *

"Hey! What's going on?!" shouted Nobarly. He and the other five participants were thinking the same thing, but all six of them were separate in different locations, far away from each other. In addition, each of them had a different type of gun.

Orga held a minigun in both hands, lifting it up with ease. Nobarly had a minimi in his possession, Lyon wielded a pistol with a silencer intacted, Beth had a light sniper rifle in her hands, Ichiya also had a small pistol, and Azure acquired a sniper rifle.

**"Attention, everyone! The rules to 'Hunt' are very simple! Each member gains a different type of Magic gun, and they have to fill it up with magic in order to fire! Don't worry, there aren't any actual bullets inside! If one member shoots another, the person that is shot is automatically out and given 1 point! Here are the scores for the rankings!"**

**6th place: 1 point**

**5th place: 2 points**

**4th place: 3 points**

**3rd place: 4 points**

**2nd place: 5 points**

**1st place: 6 points **

**"Basically, the last one standing wins! And nobody can use their own magic other than converting it into their Magic Guns! Or else they'll be disqualified! That is all! Let the games begin!" **

"We have to hunt each other down?!" cried out Beth, feeling a bit uncomfortable since she's never used a sniper rifle before.

"Although guns aren't usually my style, just this once, I will make an exception!" decided Ichiya.

"Oh! Cool!" said Azure, eyeing her sniper rifle. "Good thing I've watched Bisca practice with this thing so many times!"

Back in the sidelines, the rest of the Fairy Tail members turned to Bisca, who defended herself. "Well, there was no harm in letting her watch, so I let her."

Seeing a tall tree nearby, Azure decided to climb to the top, using the provided bushes to hide herself from plain sight. If there was something she knew from hunting, it was best not to be the hunted. Besides, she needed to rearrange and figure out how to use her sniper rifle properly.

* * *

In the meantime, Lyon was hiding behind rocks, bushes, whatever he could use to hide so that he could pinpoint his enemies and ambush them. This time, he climbed up a small tree to scout the area, only to hear some gun sounds nearby. Turning around and peeking from the bushes hiding his body, Lyon could spot Beth and Ichiya, using large rocks as shields while they fired at each other.

"Ha! Nice try, but you're not as tough as I thought!" taunted Beth, hiding behind her shield before taking a chance to try and fire carefully with her sniper rifle a few times.

"I don't like hurting women, so please hold still!" grunted Ichiya, trying to finish off Beth before any more of the competition arrived.

Unfortunately for both of them, Orga with his minigun appeared, with a confident smirk on his face as he aimed his machine gun at them.

* * *

Laying on her stomach on top of a large tree branch, Azure eyed inside the scope of her sniper rifle, getting the hang of carrying and trying to aim her weapon. She's already filled the weapon with the required magic power, so she should be fine.

Hearing some soft footsteps approaching, Azure pulled away from her scope and saw Nobarly approaching the area she was in. From the looks of it, it seemed that he was nervous and glancing around to see if any of his targets was nearby.

Getting ready, Azure positioned herself and returned her right eye into the scope until she confirmed it was Nobarly. Her breathing halted for a moment as she concentrated, becoming as quiet as a mouse while her index finger reached to the trigger guard.

She remembered Bisca's instructions when firing a sniper rifle. During practice, as the girl watched the green-haired sniper practice her gun skills over and over, Bisca said that the best sniper has to be the calmest and coldest when firing in a long distance. That meant they had to keep their breathing steady and focus on their one target. O

After all, once something is fired, it cannot change directions, no matter what.

The small tomboy sucked in all her breath, relaxed her shoulders, and focused her ice cold eye into the scope, aiming straight towards the head of her target. When everything was clear and said for her, she pulled the trigger.

Instantly, once the bullet shot out of the muzzle of Azure's weapon, it raced like the speed of light, accurately hitting the spot above Nobarly's eyebrow. Although the bullet was intended to hit his forehead, this shot was still enough to be considered a shot.

"GWAH!" Getting hit, Nobarly's body fell backwards into the ground. Once his body made contact with the ground, a small beep was heard, and his body disappeared in some sort of light, meaning he was out of the game.

Exhaling her breath, Azure blew out her held breath before standing up, her expression still stone-cold and serious as she focused on finding more of her targets. She knew it wasn't over, because if it was, the announcer would have declared it over.

* * *

_Back in the stadium... _

"Oof!" Falling on his back, Nobarly groaned before standing up, meeting an irritated Beth and Ichiya. "What happened...?"

"You got shot by one of the people in the game," explained Beth, pouting as she crossed her arms.

"What's with the both of you?"

"We both got ambushed by that Orga from Sabertooth," explained Ichiya. "Darn! If only I had sharpened my senses better!"

Nobarly glanced at the three screens, showing the last three opponents in the hunting game. "Out of curiosity, who shot me?"

"It was Azure, of course!" replied Ichiya, nodding his head. "Yes, Azure sure got you really good! I'm impressed!"

"I'm sure as hell not! Gah! Well, at least I ended up in...4th place. Yeah."

"Nice shot!" said Alzack, giving a thumbs up as his team mates cheered for their only female teammate.

Samuel only narrowed his eyes as he examined the game. Yes, what Azure did was pretty impressive, but there was still enemies around. It was going to take more than just plain luck and skill to get out of this situation.

"Whoa, either Azure's been taking sniping lessons with you, Bisca, or that was a lucky shot coming from her!" gaped Warren, registering his shock over what just happened.

Bisca shook her head. "No...she's never practiced with a sniper rifle before, mostly because I thought it was dangerous for her to wield. But, she did say that she is a fast learner and can learn things by watching."

"Look, this is just a theory, but since Azure's seen you train and listen to your tips, maybe she was lucky enough to learn how to wield one," theorized Laki.

"Yeah, maybe that's it."

"Yay! Azure-chan's so cool!" squealed Asuka.

"As expected from Azure hime-sama!" cheered Hibiki and Eve together, doing a happy dance together.

"...A lady should not be forced to fire such a terrifying thing. I should have been there," muttered Ren.

"You do realize that you'd have to be in Fairy Tail to do that, right?" reminded Jenny, sweatdropping a little at the male's sense of protection and loyalty. She had learned about Azure from her team and how she liked being a tomboy. Luckily for the fashion model, Azure was not interested in girly things such as modeling.

"Wow! Go, Azure-chan! That was pretty cool!~" cheered Millianna loudly, throwing an air punch to the air.

"Hmm...yes, very good," commented Kagura, crossing her arms. There was something bothering her about Azure, especially her eyes. From what she's seen, Azure was the sort of cheerful and happy kind of person, but in the battlefield, it was like he was an eagle, all serious and calm, like the look on his eyes. Kagura made a mental note to look out and examine the Fairy Tail Mage just in case.

* * *

Lyon panted as he continued running from Orga, managing to avoid any of his multi magic bullets while trying to fire back. After Orga ambushed both Beth and Ichiya, resulting in their losses for the game, Lyon tried to use the same tactic on Orga.

Unfortunately, he tripped and messed up his shooting, resulting in Orga hunting him down. Lyon did tried to take on the offensive, but he had to stay sharp, because one shot from Orga meant he was out of the competition, and since the Sabertooth Mage had a much more powerful gun that can shoot as many bullets per second, Lyon might as well have been a cornered mouse.

Meanwhile, Azure was quickly moving around the forest-like area, being as sneaky as a silent snake as she tried to find any more of her enemies. She managed to hide behind a tall palm tree, glancing around to see if anyone was still in the area when she heard loud gunshots coming nearby.

Peeking out, she saw Lyon and the Sabertooth Mage, Orga, fighting off against each other, trying to get at least one shot to the other's body. Azure knew that she had to take both of them out, but the way they were moving too fast would make it hard for her to directly fire at them. In addition, she can only fire one at a time, so she needed to be in an area where she could fire at both of them and that both couldn't reach her.

While thinking that, she turned around and started dashing around the area with her top speed, trying to find a good sniping area. At last, she found a rock canyon that held a narrow path upwards to the top. Sure, her enemies could still shoot at her since the canyon wasn't meant for defensive purposes, but at least it can provide a good sniping range.

Careful not to step or trip on any small rocks or any other obstacles, Azure made her way upwards, kicking off the ground several times to perform jumps to decrease any distractions along the way. When she arrived at the top several seconds later, she placed her sniper rifle against her shoulder and looked out into the battlefield.

Lyon tried firing his gun again, only to realize his amno was out of magic, so he had to replenish it. "Heh! Too easy!" crackled Orga, grinning maliciously as he was about to fire his gun at the defenceless Ice-Make Mage.

Then, a bullet whizzed near his face, nearly hitting Orga before the bullet hit the ground. Turning around, he saw Azure, aiming her sniper rifle at him.

Gritting her teeth, Azure wanted to hit herself for accidentally missing, but now was not the time for that. Since both her opponents spotted her, she had to move and aim fast, even if she runs out of bullets. She aimed at Orga and fired another shot, but since her spot was already exposed, he moved to the side and the bullet smashed a hole in the wilderness.

While Orga was being distracted, Lyon took this chance to run in order to locate a hiding spot. Seeing his prey get away, Orga opened fire with his minigun, his attention diverting back to Lyon. At the last second, the silver-haired man jumped out of the way and was secured behind a huge tree, giving him the chance to reload.

Azure was about to take aim at Orga again when he swiftly switched his target back to her, aiming his minigun back at her. With no time to retreat or defend, Azure didn't hesitate to jump high from her position.

At the same time, Orga's machine gun started pumping out multiple bullets of magic, all aiming to take out Orga's target. With a risky move Azure performed, it was almost like some sort of suicide attempt, if only the bullets were real, of course.

However, miraculously, Azure managed to avoid the minigun's line of fire as she was falling towards Orga. Soon, she was almost within his range as her heart beated faster and faster while she maintained a cold and calm look. While falling, she placed her sniper rifle on her shoulder and peered into her scope, trying to pinpoint her enemy.

For a heavy machine gun such as Orga's minigun, most machine guns normally aim for the grounds, but never in aerial combat. The reason why Orga was having difficulity trying to shoot down Azure was due to the minigun being more of a weapon made for ground fights, even though Orga was doing his best to aim the highest it can.

As she got closer and closer, in normal terms, a sniper would not be stable enough to fire while falling due to the falling distance and concentration while falling. However, the distance between her and Orga was too close to miss.

Narrowing her eyes, Azure barely noticed the cold, cruel, and sadistic grin forming on her face before pulling the trigger, muttering her last words to Orga beforehand.

"See ya!"

Instantly, the magic bullet pierced through Orga's forehead, the sound of the close gunshot booming and echoing throughout the whole wilderness once.

The recoil of the gunshot made Azure fall over and roll forward before she came to a stop. The fall and rolling around caused her hat to fall off somewhere around the area, revealing her long hair flowing into the wind where everyone can see it. There was no need to turn around, since she could tell that Orga is out of the game.

However, what she didn't anticipate was being shot in the back by the last remaining opponent, Lyon.

As soon as she was shot, her body vanished in a bright light, disappearing from the battlefield and leaving only Lyon as the victor. Sighing, Lyon placed his weapon down. "Sorry Azure. I appreciate the help, but the victor goes the spoils."

* * *

_Back in the stadium... _

"Ow...My back..." moaned Azure, rubbing her back in pain as she sat up. The magic bullets may not have caused any permanent damage, but they sure as hell hurt!

"Miss Azure, are you harmed?" asked Ichiya, concern in his tone as he offered a hand.

"Huh? No, I'll be alright! But thanks for asking anyways!" Taking his hand, Azure managed to stand up on her own two feet and faced the shocked and surprised looks of Nobarly and Beth. "Huh? What's wrong with both of you?"

"You're a girl?!" Nobarly exclaimed, pointing a finger at her. "Great, now I've lost the confidence of Wild Four! The guys are gonna tease me for this!"

"Why didn't you say anything?!" asked Beth.

"I just like dressing up as a boy, that's all!"

Apparently, the competitors weren't the only ones stunned by Azure's true gender. Some of the people in the audience began muttering about Azure, but soon, the muttering ceased to an end.

"Waah?! Azure was a girl?!" meowed Millianna, gripping the railings of the stands. "...Wow, now I feel bad for threatening her back then."

"A girl?!" wondered Sting, shocked that the first guy he met in Fiore happened to be female. "And she even managed to beat Orga?!"

"...It was unfortunate, but perhaps it was just a lucky shot," replied Rogue, not too fazed about it.

"He's a she?" said Yuka, puzzled before turning to Toby. "Toby, did you and Lyon know about this when you met her?"

"Yeah! And she keeps calling me doggy for some reason! I'm not a dog, though!"

Chelia gasped, flames fuming in her eyes. "A love rival?!"

"No, Chelia. Just, no."

"Hey, Lyon!" called out Azure, her cheeks puffed up with anger as she stomped up to him. "You backstabber! I can't believe you shot me in the back!"

"It was part of the game. Sometimes things aren't very fair," said Lyon calmly as he faced the short-tempered girl.

"I know, but still..." Pointing her finger at him, Azure declared, "Gah! I don't care anymore! I'm gonna get you back in the tournament! Somehow! And I'm not gonna cheer for you!"

"That's fine with me."

"I'm gonna cheer for doggy man!"

"I'M NOT A DOG!"

**"Ahem! Ladies and gentlemen! The 'Hunt' game is now over! We will now rally up the points and see who's first and who's last!"**

**Lamia Scale: 6 points**

**Fairy Tail: 5 points**

**Sabertooth: 4 points**

**Quatro Cerberus: 3 points**

**Blue Pegasus: 2 points**

**Mermaid Heel: 1 point **

"Well, that's off to a fresh start," said Romeo. "And we even managed to get a point higher than Sabertooth."

"Maybe there is hope for us this year," responded Max, smiling a bit.

**"Now, since the competition round is over, let's start up with the battle matchups! The battles were chosen randomly by the judges and the king of Fiore himself! So, here are the results!"**

**Sabertooth VS Blue Pegasus: Eve Tearm vs Orga Nanagear**

**Fairy Tail VS Mermaid Heel: Max Alors vs Araña Webb**

**Quatro Cerberus VS Lamia Scale: Jäger vs Yuka Suzuki**

* * *

**Finally! Might take me a while to upload the next chapter due to tests and homework, but next chapter is when the battles begin and the end of Day 1! Read and review! By the way, try not to think of Azure as a Mary Sue, because I tried to hard to explain how exactly she learned how to fire and how she managed to beat Orga. I know it's similar to Sword Art Online II, but I did put major differences in this one!**


	15. Day 1 Battles

**Now then, the rest of the events of the first day of the GMG! Here are the matchups again!**

**Sabertooth VS Blue Pegasus: Eve Tearm vs Orga Nanagear**

**Fairy Tail vs Mermaid Heel: Max Alors vs Araña Webb **

**Quatro Cerberus vs Lamia Scale: Jäger vs Yuka Suzuki**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"Nice job, Azure!" welcomed Kinana as Team Fairy Tail arrived in the bleachers with the rest of the guild to watch the first watch.

Azure giggled, grinning as she rubbed the back of her head. "It was nothing! I could have gotten into first place if it hadn't been for Lyon, though! I'm not gonna cheer for him if he ever fights!"

"Still, you did a pretty good job," said Bisca, patting the girl on the head gently. "If anything, that's the best rank we've gotten in the competitions, especially on the first day."

"Yeah, but the tournament's not over," reminded Warren, crossing his arms. "There's still lots of tough enemies to go, especially with Sabertooth. And I know eventually one of us will have to face them."

"Still, that was pretty awesome how you took down Orga! ORGA, of all people!" cheered Jet, facing Azure. "And nobody's been able to beat him in a competition game before!"

"Let's just be lucky that Orga wasn't fighting Azure," said Samuel, glancing behind his shoulder as he sat down on Azure's head. "If that was the case, his Lightning God Slayer magic would have been more than enough to take down Azure's magic."

"How do you know his magic?" asked Wakaba, smoking a cigarette.

"Simple. Before the games started, I took the liberty of researching all of the tough members of Sabertooth and their magic and abilities. They are very powerful indeed, and I sure hope Azure won't have to face him. We're just lucky that Azure was able to get us to second place."

"Aw, that is sweet of you to care, Samuel!" awed Azure, plucking Samuel from her head and placing him on the ground before kneeling before him. "But even if I faced the guy, I'd just use my sword and close combat skills! You know how good I am at those!"

"That is true. Also, I took a look at Sabertooth's side, and Orga seemed pretty mad. He seemed to be looking at your direction."

"Huh?" True enough, when Azure looked at where Team Sabertooth was, which happened to be the other side of the coliseum, she saw Orga in a terrible mood and he was staring daggers at her. Wanting to make him feel better, Azure smiled and waved at him, which only irritated him more.

"Hey! Are you trying to get Orga on your bad side TWICE today?!" questioned Droy, a bit frightened.

"Why? I'm just cheering him up by waving at him! Nothing wrong with that!"

**"Now the moment has arrived for the matches to begin! First off, from Sabertooth, it's Orga Nangear! Facing off against Eve Tearm from Blue Pegasus!" **

At that moment, both contestants entered the arena from opposite sides, facing each other straight forward. Orga only crossed his arms as Eve took a fighting stance, ready to take on what the Sabertooth mage had in mind.

"Go, Eve! Do your best!" cheered Jenny, waving her arm around to encourage her young teammate.

"Eve! Go ahead and show your parfum!" ordered Ichiya, posing majestically while sparkles fluttered around him as usual.

"Yeah! You can do this, Eve!" shouted Azure, jumping up and down and waving her arms around. "Take him down like I did in the last game!"

"Do you seriously want a death wish?!" screeched Warren, glancing down at Orga, then back at Azure. Luckily, Orga didn't seemed to have heard Azure, or maybe he was just seething his anger mentally.

For once, Romeo actually wanted Sabertooth to win this round, mostly because he felt jealously over Eve. He didn't know why he felt this way towards the guy even though he never actually talked to him until today.

**"And now, let the fight...BEGIN!" **

Eve was the first to perform his spell, wanting to end this fight quickly as possible. He heard serious rumors about Orga and didn't want to see if they were true. "White Fang!" Swinging his arm forward in a claw-like manner, Eve summoned whirling snow that started to head towards the unfazed Orga.

Bringing his arm forward, Orga created a sphere of black lightning suddenly engulfs Eve, and once the sphere made contact with the Blue Pegasus Mage's body, Eve was electrocuted. Since the caster had lost concentration on the Snow Magic spell, the spell never reached Orga and simply disappated.

"AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" He screamed, his body in the air from the heavy impact before he fell straight back into the ground, battered and defeated.

Everyone except for Sabertooth, was shocked, figurately speaking, when they saw that Eve was quickly defeated, just like that. It didn't even seem like Orga was even using his full power at the time, yet he casted such a powerful spell.

**"I-I don't believe this! Eve was taken out in just a few mere seconds! The winner is Orga Nanagear from Sabertooth, thus he gains 10 points for his guild!" **

As the rest of the audience was cheering for Sabertooth's victory, Team Blue Pegasus rushed into the arena battle grounds, hurrying to tend to Eve's injuries. As Jenny held his head in her lap, Eve managed to take a couple deep breath, but he was still winching in pain.

"Eve! Eve, are you okay?!" cried out Hibiki, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Never fear! My Pain Relieving Perfume should help!" assured Ichiya, taking out some sort of vial that released some sort of relaxing scent. All Eve did was take a sniff of its elegant scent and some of his heavy wounds began to heal slowly.

"T-thank you, sensei..."

Meanwhile, Team Fairy Tail was still stunned and shocked as the other teams over what just happened. "...Did you see that?! Sabertooth's getting stronger each and every year!" cried out Warren.

"Hmm...just as I calculated. His raw power truly is impressive," replied Samuel, taking note on his notepad. "I may have to come up with various new strategies if we're to beat him."

"Let's just hope we never do!" shouted Max, who was, understandably, terrified.

"I hate to admit it, but he is impressive," sighed Romeo, looking stern and worried.

"...So, master!" called Azure, turning to the middle-aged man. "When can you arrange a fight between me and him?"

"Are you out of your mind?! Out of the question!"

"Yikes! That was some major fight!" yelped Toby, shaking in shock.

Jura nodded, slightly impressed. "Yes, but that young lad has some obvious weaknesses which I can easily pinpoint."

"Really? I didn't notice!" gasped Chelia, turning to the older and wiser Mage.

"Well, it's to be expected from a great Wizard Saint like him," assured Lyon.

* * *

_A few minutes later... _

After Eve was carried to one of the hospital beds inside the coliseum rooms and when everything was cleared and ready, it was time to begin the next match. Max and his female opponent from Mermaid Heel were facing one another in the arena.

"Good luck to ya, Maxie! You really need it!" teased Araña, winking brightly at him.

"Heh, you too!" said Max, readying himself. "Just to be clear, I don't hold back on women!"

"Wow, what a coincidence. Because I don't, either."

**"We apologize for the wait, ladies and gentlemen! Now, the battle between Max Alors and Araña Webb can commence!" **

"Here I go! Sand Blast!" Concentrating onto one single spell, Max threw a blast of sand towards Araña like it was a baseball. The blast seemed small, but it looked like a speeding bullet heading straight towards the Mermaid Heel Mage.

"Web Shot!" Generating her magic right in front of herself, Araña produced some sort of web shield whose stinky parts scattered from the ground to the sides of the arena. When Max's sand blast made contact with the web shield, it simply bounced off and headed straight for the caster.

Quickly, Max rolled out of the way, glaring at his opponent as his spell crashed into the ground, missing its new target. "Great...a spider-like lady."

"But that's not all I can do!" giggled Araña, leaping into the air. "Web Blast!" She fired various small, but shots made of sticky silk, all aiming at Max.

"Oh yeah? Sand Wall!" Manipulating the sand around the battlefield, Max created a large sand wall around himself, easily protecting him from the web shots and providing him time to cast another spell.

"Sand Rebellion!" Swiping his arm forward, Max first caused the sands to rise up and revolve around Araña before he made the sand magic explode.

"Gah!" Araña landed on her back really hard, not expecting any aerial support from a Sand Magic user, who usually attacks using the grounds below him. However, the previous attack would not be enough to take her down as she managed to get up.

**"Oh! It seems that Max has dealt some heavy damage towards Araña! Could this be it for her?"**

"Oh! So close!" complained Kinana.

"Go for it, Max! Take that spider lady down!" cheered Azure loudly as Samuel was taking notes on the battle.

Max clenched his fists as he got ready to fight once more. "Sand Spear!" With both hands together, Max fired a beam of sand at Araña, who dodged with ease as she began running towards him. Frustrated, he began firing more and more beams of sand at her, only for all of them to miss the agile woman.

Spraying her Thread Magic at the ground to use as a catapult, Araña shot herself into the air before expertly firing web shots at Max. The man tried to counter attack the shots, but his arm got caught in sticky silk goo, which soon followed with his foot trapped in the sand. Eventually, he was pinned to the ground with webs surrounding his body but his face.

"Damnit! I can't move!" he cried out, struggling to move. He grunted in pain when Araña placed a foot on his chest and she placed her hands on her hips, smiling in triumph. Since Max was unable to move and couldn't use his Sand Magic, that automatically claimed Araña the victor.

**'The match is over! Araña Webb from Mermaid Heel wins! 10 points to her team!" **

Once Max was freed from his web trap, he slumped over back to his guild members. The audience were cheering on Mermaid Heel's victory, while laughing and humilating Fairy Tail's loss.

Azure gently patted his back. "Don't worry, Max! There's always next time!"

"Actually, only one member that's participated in the fights can only fight once," spoke up Samuel, reading the rule book.

The Water Dragon Slayer glared at her Exceed. "Wow, nice to encourage Max, moron."

"It's the truth."

"It's alright," assured Max, his arm slumping to his side. "I kinda expected to lose anyways."

As soon as the previous battle was over, the last two competitors entered the battlefield, fully ready to fight one another. Both were Yuka and Jägger, and they were from different guilds with the same goal: Winning the Grand Magic Games.

**"Now that that's over, it's time for the final match of the day! Jäger from Quatro Cerberus vs Yuka Suzuki from Team Lamia Scale! Let the match start!" **

"Heh, get ready to be pummeled by me!" declared Jäger, getting a bit overconfident as he mashed both his fists together.

"Wave Bullet!" Aiming at the Quatro Cerberus Mage, Yuka fired two spheres filled with large masses of energy. Jägger managed to jump out of the way, but saw how powerful the spell was when both spheres shattered the rocks on the ground with ease.

Then, large green flytraps with massive spikes on their outer parts sprang from the ground, surrounding the battlefield one by one. When Yuka saw more and more flytraps sprouting thanks to Jägger's magic, he knew that the Quatro Cerberus Mage's plan was to surround Yuka until he was able to take down the petite man.

**"Oh! Yuka's being trapped by large amounts of flytraps? Can he make it out of there alive?!" **

"Wave Boost!" Placing his palms on the ground, Yuka propelled himself into the air, safe from the dangerous flytraps and even negating some of the magic Jäger worked hard to create.

"Nicely done!" called Chelia.

"Yeah! Finish him off with that same shot before!" yelled Azure, waving her arms around.

As if acknowledging her request, Yuka concentrated his magic on both palms, creating large amounts of energy before firing them at Jäger, who blocked with both arms but still received damage. Using his Wave Magic, Yuka used some sort of shield to land safely on the ground.

**"What's this?! Has Yuka won? Is Quatro Cerberus' Jäger fallen?!" **

"I'm not done yet!" hollered Jäger, rushing towards Yuka. He has fought guys like Yuka before, and while they mostly rely on their magic, they lack physical fitness, which is something Jäger manages at.

Extending one hand, a considerate amount of energy was generated at Yuka's hand. "Wave Rush!" He fired several large masses of energy at Jäger, who couldn't stop running at the time and was forced to take in the attacks, causing some smoke clouds to corrupt and surround the arena battlefield due to some explosions.

**"L-Ladies and gentlemen, please wait a few moments as the smoke clears up! We are currently unsure who is standing and who's not!" **

A few seconds later, when the arena was cleared, Yuka was left standing, and Jäger was down on the ground, unconscious and injured. The audience cheered once they saw who the victor was.

**"And there you have it folks! The winner is Yuka Suzuki from Lamia Scale! 10 points to his team!"**

"Yes! Yuka won!" said Toby happily.

"Wow! He's pretty good!" complimented Azure, astonished at his victory. "Yay! Go, Team Lamia Scale! ...And Lyon!"

"Why did you add that part?" asked Droy curiously, earning a pouty look from the girl.

"Because I'm still mad at the jerk for backstabbing-er, backfiring at me!"

**"Before we go folks, there's still time to announce the end results of the first day of the 6th Annual Grand Magic Games!"**

**1st Place: Lamia Scale (16 Points)**

**2nd Place: Sabertooth (14 Points)**

**3rd Place: Mermaid Heel (11 Points)**

**4th Place: Fairy Tail (5 Points)**

**5th Place: Quatro Cerberus (3 Points)**

**6th Place: Blue Pegasus (2 Points) **

* * *

**Finished with the first day! Okay, I admit, this chapter wasn't too long, and nothing interesting besides the battles was happening, but the next chapter will involve both the 2nd day events, both competition and battles! And it'll be long, so it'll take a while to update the next one due to some busy things I have to do.**

**Read and review!**


	16. Day 2

**Ready or not, here comes the 2nd full day of the Grand Magic Games!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail series, only the OCs! **

* * *

**"Welcome back folks to the 2nd annual day of the Grand Magic Games! I'm your host, Chapati Lola, and right next to me are my two favorite people commentating on the games, Yajima-san and Luna Forrester!"**

**"Yes, thank you for allowing me to comment."**

**"Yay! I can't wait for this to begin!"  
**  
"Whew! We barely got out of that hitch from yesterday," sighed Max, rubbing his injured arm from yesterday. "Sorry I couldn't do much yesterday."

"It's alright. There are more enemies to face in these next days," reminded Samuel, reading a book.

"Where did Usagi go anyways?" wondered Romeo quietly.

"Worried about your girlfriend?" teased Warren, grinning. His teasing caused Romeo to turn red and he glanced away, looking quite upset.

"N-no! I hate her anyways! I just need her to be on the team since it requires all five members! That's all!"

Warren raised an eyebrow. "'I?' Not 'we?'"

"Gah! Never mind!" shouted Romeo, wanting to rip his hair out. "Where is she anyways?"

"She went to the infirmary where Blue Pegasus was," said Samuel, not looking up from his book.

"Why there?"

"She said she wanted to try healing Eve's wounds since his were pretty nasty. I told her that she could under the condition that she returned back here before the games started."

"And you just let her?!" Anger, but not hatred, filled up Romeo as he started shaking Samuel. "Why?!"

"Didn't you listen to a word I said? She wanted to hea-"

"I know what that means! I just wanted to know why she wanted to heal him!"

"Knowing her, it's because he's her friend."

"Huh?" Romeo tilted his head a little, confused. She wanted to...to heal Eve just because he was her friend?

Sighing, Samuel put down his book and looked at Romeo. "Even though they're on different teams in the games, Azure saw how badly injured Eve was. She even went to visit him yesterday after yesterday's events were over. She healed him because she cares for him and he's her friend. You of all people should understand this."

Romeo's grip on Samuel faltered, since he did understand what the Exceed was saying. Yet, why was this sort of tightness in his chest, as if he wanted to let out his anger?

Samuel gave a small, smug smirk. "Or, unless...you feel jealously?"

"No! I don't! Why do people assume that?!"

"I'd be careful if I were you, Romeo. Azure's still the tomboy type, so if people get the wrong idea, they might think you two are more of a...ga-"

"Damnit, I am not gay, Samuel!"

"Hey, guys!" shouted Azure, bursting into the room. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, the tournament's about to start again," said Max, crossing his arms. "Let's go, alright?"

Azure grinned happily. "Okay!" Taking Romeo and Samuel's hands, she started skipping towards the sidelines where the rest of her guild members were at the moment. Romeo blushed at the contact between their hands, making Samuel notice and smirk.

"Romeo, you're blushing."

"I-I am not!"

"Huh?" Turning around, Azure placed a hand on Romeo's forehead, causing him to blush dark red due to the close touch. "You're burning up! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Let's just go!" replied Romeo, pushing aside Azure gently as he tried to ignore the topic. From behind him, his teammates were grinning except for an oblivious Azure, who had no idea what was going on or why Max, Alzack, and Samuel were smiling.

* * *

**"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! Right now, we're going to start the next event of Day 2! This event is called...'Knock Off!' Now, every single team must choose one member to participate!" **

"If the event is called 'Knock Off,' maybe my Air Magic might do the trick," wondered Ren outloud. "Alright, I'll do it!"

"That's Ren-kun for you!" cheered Jenny, clapping her hands as Ren walked right into the arena.

**"From Blue Pegasus, it's the famous sky-cold Ren Akatsuki!" **

"Ooh! Ooh! I wanna try next!" spoke up Azure, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Careful, Azure," warned Samuel in a serious tone. "According to the rule handbook, a team member can participate in two events, and nothing more. You sure you want to waste your second chance?"

"Hmm..." Azure looked uneased, and crossed her arms with a pouty face. She could enter the event right now, but what if she screwed things up? Plus, if she entered now, she could lose a shot at one of the future events.

Alzack raised his hand. "I'll volunteer. This might be interesting after all."

"You sure? We don't even know what kind of event this is," replied Max, warning his friend.

"Nobody knows what event it is. We'll just have to see and find out for ourselves." Saying that, Alzack was next in line to enter the event.

**"Ooh! Now, from Fairy Tail, it's Alzack Connell! Let's see what this cowboy can do!" **

"This event may mean we might have to battle," said Yuka. "My magic can nullify other magic, so maybe I should do it."

"That may be for the best," agreed Jura, nodding his head.

**"Yuka Suzuki has now entered the ring, coming from Lamia Scale! What can the magic nullifier do now?" **

"That does it! I'm going next!" declared Orga, looking ready to march right into the stadium and kill every competitor in sight.

Minerva placed her hand on the Lightning God Slayer's shoulder. "Calm down, Orga. I'll take this challenge. I haven't had a good exercise in hours. Besides, you remembered what happened yesterday. The only reason you're still here is because you managed to crush that Blue Pegasus boy yesterday, and Master was able to give you a second chance. Don't screw this up because of your high ego."

Had anyone else said that, Orga would no doubt stomp them with his magic. However, this was Minerva, daughter of the Guildmaster in Sabertooth, so he had to respect her wishes.

"...Yes, Miss."

**"Sabertooth has sent out Minerva Orlando, beauty queen in Sabertooth! What can this ficious tigress do now?" **

"Kagura-chan! Can I take this one? Pleeeease?" begged Millianna, raising her hand delightfully.

"Hmm..." Crossing her arms, the silent swordswoman nodded. "Very well, you may."

"Yay!"

**"From Mermaid Heel, one of the beauty crowns from the female guild itself, Millianna!" **

"Alright, gang! I'll take this one! I must avenge ourselves for Quatro Cerberus!" announced Rocker. "Remember, Wild..."

"FOUR!" the rest of his comrades shouted happily, wanting to cheer on one of their strongest team mates.

**"Finally, from Quatro Cerberus, it's the dog with a WILD heart, Rocker!" **

Once all six competitors reached the arena fields, everyone started cheering for the guild they wished would win. Well, only a few people besides the rest of the Fairy Tail guild were cheering on Fairy Tail, but most of the people roared for Sabertooth, considering they are the strongest guild in all of Fiore.

Suddenly, the field started to transform itself around the participants, turning into some sort of track field with fences surrounding and forming a circle. From another entrance, some workers came out with some horses, each with different colors and tags with numbers on them.

The same pumpkin man from before, namely Mato, came up towards the six competitors. "Hello, kabo! Let me explain the rules of Knock Off! First, everyone has to grab a stick from my hand, kabo! Each one has a number, and the number you pick will be your horse for the event, kabo!"

Choosing a random stick, each member got a different sort of number in their sticks. They looked at the horses with the different kind of tag numbers before walking towards them, using the stick's number as their clue.

"Now that you've got your horses, let me explain, kabo!" spoke up Mato, bringing back attention. "Each of you will be participating in some sort of race together, only, the objective is not to win the horse race! You have to knock each other off your horses! Last one standing wins!"

"What?! It's that sort of game! Man, I should have participated!" complained Azure, astonished. If anything, she could have used her Water Dragon Slayer Magic to make the rest of the horses slip on some sort of wet puddle and fall down along with their riders.

"Or, I could have been next," stated Max. He could use his Sand Magic to attack the horses along with the riders. In fact, each of the competitors must have been thinking of the same plan, considering the fact that they had this mischevious glint in their eyes.

"Oh! And there's one more rule to the event, kabo!" said Mato. "You cannot harm any of the horses whatsoever, kabo!"

"...Well, I'm kinda glad I didn't participate," said Azure, pouting since she had a brilliant plan in her mind.

Samuel rolled his eyes. "Only you would come up with such a predictable plan."

Once everyone was seated in their own horses and equipped with horse gear, they waited for the event to begin, each of them preparing their own magic to cast.

**"Is everyone ready? Kabo!"** called out Mato, standing on top of a stool, having a microphone in his hands. **"Ready...set...let Knock Off begin!" **

At that moment, the horses began to take off into the track field, running around in the circle arena, thinking they were in some sort of race while their owners were casting magic to each other.

"Gh-! I can't get a clear shot!" muttered Rocker, trying to use his magic on one of his competition. He had to grip the reins on his horse and concentrate on not getting knocked off, which proved to be much difficult than he thought.

"Take this!" Ren fired a whirlwind blast at Alzack, who countered with two wind bullets using his Guns Magic. Both wind-based spells blocked each other out at the same time once both collided.

"Hmm...maybe it was a good thing for Alzack to compete," said Samuel outloud, examining the battle.

"Huh? Why's that?" asked Azure, confused as she looked at her Exceed friend.

"Well, Alzack is an high ranked sniper, just like Bisca. Using hand guns are much easier than a sniper rifle, and since Alzack used to be some sort of cowboy, this event is cowboy based, so it should be easier for Alzack's chances to win. Though, it still won't be easy..."

Minerva glanced at the competitors who were way in front of her, while she was the only one behind. Sure, she could wipe them all out in one go, but maybe she should do it one at a time? Her first victim would be...

Alzack ducked down as Ren fired another Aero magic spell at him. He proceeded to fire another one of his Guns Magic spells when he suddenly felt a bit strange. Before he knew it, he was no longer on top of his horse, but rather on the dusty ground while his horse was running away.

**"Oh! And Alzack is the first to make it out! Now, there are only five competitors left, so who will win?!" **

"Huh?!" Azure rubbed her eyes to make sure they weren't tricking her. "You mean we lost?! How?! Alzack was totally winning!"

"Not...exactly," said Samuel, who was as stunned as his best friend. "But, maybe I can conjure up a theory if I keep seeing things."

Minerva glanced around, a smirk riding on her face. So far, she's just taken care of the Fairy Tail cowboy, and now there are five-no, four left, including herself. Millianna had just used her magic to continuously whip Rocker out of his horse. Bored, Minerva decided to deal with all four competitors at the same time.

As Ren, Yuka, and Millianna fought off in a three-way duel, they were off their horses and thrown to the ground with Rocker and Alzack so suddenly. Minerva smirked and bathed in the cheers of the fans as they chanted Sabertooth's name.

**"UNBELIEVABLE! In one swoop, Minerva has taken care of all her opponents! Truly, this deserves a good victory! Sabertooth wins the event!" **

**Sabertooth: 6 points (20 points)**

**Lamia Scale: 3 points (19 points)**

**Mermaid Heel: 3 points (14 points)**

**Fairy Tail: 1 point (9 points)**

**Blue Pegasus: 3 points (5 points)**

**Quatro Cerberus: 2 points (5 points) **

"Looks like Sabertooth back on top," sighed Max, placing his elbow on the railing.

"But hey! At least we managed to get a point!" reminded Azure happily as she waved to Alzack. "Hey, Alzack! Nice job! Now we're still in fourth place because of you! Good job!"

Hearing that, Alzack looked at his guild members, relieved that they were still grabbing onto hope. At least they were cheerful, even if they didn't have a chance to win.

Samuel looked at Minerva, watching as she retreated to rejoin her team members. He took out his notepad to scribe down notes. Her magic did perk up his interest, but he was going to keep an eye out for her in case they needed to battle.

* * *

**"The matches have been chosen by random! Now, the first match will be...Romeo Cobolt vs Hibiki Laytis! Team Fairy Tail vs Team Blue Pegasus!" **

Both named contestants faced off one another in the coliseum, both in fighting poses as they waited for the match to begin. Though he didn't know much about the handsome Mage, Romeo could tell that if he really was famous, he must be extremely powerful. Hibiki even looked physically built, so that might propose a problem for him.

On the other hand, Hibiki may be quite strong, but he's the weakest member of the Trimens due to his magic not being used to combat. He mostly relies on intelligence and provides support for the Trimens, as that's all he's good for when in a battle.

And the worst part? His opponent may know his type of magic, but Hibiki himself has never analyzed Romeo's magic. But Romeo was way younger than he is, and Hibiki was obviously much more physically stronger than the boy, so he might stand a chance.

_'I don't know how I'm going to win, but I'm definitely going to try!' _thought Romeo, glaring at Hibiki with that usual cold look of his. _'For Fairy Tail!' _

"Romeo! Do your best!" cheered Azure, waving her arm around and yelling loudly, making Romeo turn his head slightly. "Hibiki can't fight that good and only provides support! Now's your chance to strike back!"

Hibiki panicked, cringing since his opponent now knows the nature of his magic. "Azure hime-sama! You can't just go revealing people's magic like that!"

Romeo blushed slightly when he heard Azure cheering for him. Yes, the information was reliable, but the fact that Azure was cheering him on made him more confident enough to win.

**"Is everyone ready to go? Let the match begin!" **

"Blue Fire!"

"Force Shield!"

Riled up, Romeo started throwing a barrage of small blue fireballs at Hibiki, who blocked with screens of his Archive Magic. The moment Romeo stopped his assault, Hibiki countered by using an offensive type of Archive Magic, consisting of small screens appearing around Romeo before they simultaneously exploded. Luckily, they were only small explosions, but the downside was that it was enough to cause Romeo to leap to the air due to the impact.

**"Ooh! A direct hit coming from Hibiki himself! How will Romeo counter attack from this?!"**

"What?! I didn't even know he had attack spells too!" cried out Azure, surprised. The last time she had seen Hibiki use his Archive Magic, it was to locate information, so she assumed it was for defensive and supportive purposes.

"It's alright to assume that," replied Samuel calmly. "I've read about his Archive Magic before. It doesn't provide much offense power, making it a low level type of magic for strength."

Gritting his teeth, Romeo flipped in the air to regain motion, and as he was falling down, he began shooting regular fireballs from above. Hibiki started running across the battlefield, and as he dodged the fireballs, he was getting closer and closer to Romeo until he landed a roundhouse kick to his stomach.

Romeo coughed out saliva the moment he was hit in the stomach before he was sent flying to the ground several paces from Hibiki. He forced himself to get up and he charged at Hibiki again, more anger into his flames.

Hibiki continously dodged all his attempts as Romeo kept swinging his flame-filled fists at him. Finally, when Romeo seemed fatigued enough, Hibiki started his own counter attacks by using his own close combat skills on the boy.

**"This is incredible! Hibiki's not holding anything back as he brutally assaults Romeo with his martial arts! Incredible indeed!" **

Unable to deal with the pain, Romeo collapsed to his knees before falling facedown. Hibiki let out a sigh of relief before wiping away some sweat on his forehead, making his fangirls in the audience squeal and cheer for him loudly.

**"And that's the match! Hibiki Laytis is the winner! 10 points to Team Blue Pegasus!" **

"Aww! Romeo lost!" pouted Azure as the crowd was cheering for Hibiki, but laughing at Fairy Tail's yet again, loss.

"..." Silently, with his bangs covering his eyes, Romeo started to exit the arena, clutching his injured shoulder. He ignored the laughs directly at him as he hurried out of the scene, obviously hurt and humilated.

Growing worried, Kinana got up and announced, "I'll go find him, just in case he doesn't do anything to hurt himself."

Bisca and Warren stood from their seats as well. "We'll go too," the two of them offered as they followed Kinana, who was rushing to find the small boy.

Concerned, Azure wanted to help out as well. "Wait! How about I go?"

Shaking her head, Bisca turned her head to face the girl. "No, it'll be fine. We'll find Romeo soon enough. Just continue watching the battles, okay?" Before Azure could protest, Bisca, Warren, and Kinana were already gone.

* * *

**"Following up is the second match! Team Quatro Cerberus vs Team Mermaid Heel! Beth Vanderwood vs Warcry! Let the battle begin!" **

"Carrot Missile!" Taking the first move, Beth used her magic and fired carrots towards Warcry, who started to run around to avoid the carrots that were as fast as missiles. However, some of them managed to hit Warcry, making him tumble around in the ground as soon as he fell down.

**"Ooh! And Beth takes the first move! Though dodging most of them, Warcry still takes damage!" **

"BWAAAHHH!" Suddenly, Warcry started sobbing and crying uncontrollably in a comical, sort of sad kind of way. This act was enough to cause some surprise at the audience, including his opponent, Beth.

"Whoa! You okay?!"

**"Oh my! It appears as if Warcry is crying for some reason! Has his opponent offended him by some chance?!" **

"Oh come on! Quit being a chicken! Just because you got injured a bit doesn't mean you can start crying!" complained Azure, shaking her fist at the still-crying Quatro Cerberus Mage. She had heard the guild was full of manly men, but this was a joke!

"Hold," interrupted Samuel, scrambling through his notes. "According to the research I've gathered, it seems that Warcry has Tear Magic, which enables him to become stronger the more he cries."

"That's...a weird kind of magic!"

"Weird as it might be, I actually fought against him once in the tournament before," admitted Alzack. "And, I gotta admit, he was seriously strong!"

Apparently, since this is the first time Beth has fought off against Warcry, she obviously had no idea just what sort of magic he possessed, and was confused on why he was crying in the first place.

"W-w-w-wild...!" sobbed Warcry, frailing his arms around.

"FOUR!" His guild members recited that word over and over, encouraging their team member on the field.

Sensing something wrong, Kagura frowned. She doesn't know much about the Quatro Cerberus guild, nor care about them, and even seeing one of their members crying seemed ridiculous to her, but she had a feeling something was up.

Bored, Millianna whined, "Beth! Just hurry up and defeat that guy already!" Even she could tell that this battle was getting nobody anywhere.

Nodding, Beth turned back to Warcry, feeling a bit of pity for him not only because he was crying, but also because he was about to lose. And to a very young girl, no less! This will tarness Quatro Cerberus' reputation quite nicely.

"Brocolli Bullet! Corn Catapult!" Emerging from the grounds at high speed, the vegetables plunged themselves towards Warcry as he continuously cried. Normally, they would be strong enough to knock someone down, but Warcry kept his grip on the ground and only slid back.

"Yehaaaaaawwwww! I'm i-i-i-invincible!" sobbed Warcry before charging towards the stunned Beth. Thanks to his Tear Magic, he was able to not only increase his strength power, but his speed and agility as well, making him nearly invisible in Beth's eyes. He punched Beth straight in the stomach, knocking her towards a wall and leaving her knocked out.

Crying too long and the effects of his Tear Magic was enough for Warcry to deliver a blow that would be considerable damage. Also, the fact that Beth was overusing her magic too much left her drained and weakened, raising Warcry's chances of finishing the battle.

**"O-oh my! In one blow, Warcry has knocked out Beth! The winner is Warcry from Quatro Cerberus!" **

The fans of Quatro Cebereus and the guild itself roared loudly for Warcry's defeat, shouting out the usual quote "Wild Four" over and over again to prove how strong Quatro Cebereus.

Meanwhile, Beth, who had regained consciousness, groaned from the pain in her stomach as she strolled back to her guild mates. Though not heard clearly, it seemed that Beth was apologizing, but the shaking of Kagura and her placing a hand on Beth's shoulder assured her it was alright.

* * *

**"Finally, the last match of the day...Lyon Vastia from Team Lamia Scale vs Rufus Lore from the all-famous SABERTOOTH!" **

The crowd, mostly the fangirls of both Lyon and Rufus, applauded and cheered as Lyon and Rufus entered and readied themselves for battle. While Lyon was one of the top powerful wizards of Lamia Scale, Sabertooth was still number 1 in all of Fiore, and one of the most powerful in the guild. So, this was going to be an interesting match one way or another.

"So...who do you think will win? Personally, I just want to see Lamia Scale cream Sabertooth," said Max honestly.

"Probably Sabertooth. But I'll cheer on for Lamia Scale's victory," sighed Jet, not full of confidence in himself.

In any other situation, Azure would be cheering for Lyon, but instead, she shouted, "Yeah! Kick his ass, Rufus!"

"Eeeehhh?! Why are you cheering for the opposite team?! I thought you were friends with Lyon!" exclaimed Romeo. He had heard Azure speak about Lyon many times in the guild before, and it was plain obvious she admired him and valued him as a friend, but here she was, telling some other guy to beat up her friend, Lyon!

"I'm surprised too, Azure," admitted Samuel calmly. "I thought you would cheer for Lyon?"

"Nope! Not after what happened back at the gun shooting event yesterday! Grrrr!" It seemed that Azure was still pretty mad about Lyon shooting her in the back, even if he had his reasons for doing so.

**"Looks like everyone's all excited for this final battle for the day! Who will win?! The stone-cold Ice Mage of Lamia Scale, and the fabulous male from Sabertooth? Let the match begin!" **

Not waiting to give his opponent a chance to strike, Lyon had already began gathering his Magic Power. 'Ice-Make: Ape! Ice-Make: Snow Dragon! Ice-Make: Panther!"

All at once, an ice sculpture of an ape, a large dragon, and a panther appeared in front of ther Ice-Make wizard, ready to attack the foe in front of them: Rufus Lore.

Slightly impressed, Rufus merely lowered his hat downwards. "I see. I admire your beautiful sculptures. I even 'memorized' them."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" questioned Lyon, confused. "Never mind! Attack!" All at once, his animalistic creations charged themselves towards the defenseless Mage.

Rufus chuckled lightly. "You'll see for yourself. Memory-Make: Demonic Wind Blades!" Using a mass of Magic he memorized, Rufus created several sharp, black and red waves that were enough to penetrate the three tough creations Lyon made.

Shocked by how quickly Rufus destroyed his creations, Lyon shook his head to get over it. "Take this! Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!" Slamming both palms onto the ground, a tower of ice spikes sprang up from the ground, but Rufus leaped over it and stood on top of the pillar of ice.

"I don't get it. Why did Lyon attack so soon? Normally, wouldn't he just wait for his enemy to attack first?" wondered Chelia as she watched the match more throughly.

"True, but even I can understand Lyon's situation," explained Jura. "His opponent is, after all, from Sabertooth, therefore, a very strong opponent indeed. Perhaps it was the right decision for Lyon to quickly attack first so that his opponent doesn't finish him off."

"Memory-Make: Soaring Thunder Dragonflies!" Using his Memory-Make Magic, Rufus successfully created several dozen dragonflies made from ice which were crackling of black lightning; a severe combination of Lyon's Ice-Make: Dragonflies spell and Orga's Magic.

"Ice-Make Shield!" Immediantly, Lyon placed a defensive spell in front of himself, ready to block out anymore attacks from Rufus.

However, the Memory-Make wizard had other plans.

"Memorize. And Erase." With a few, simple hand movements, Rufus completely 'memorized' and 'erased' Lyon's ice shield, rendering him completely defenceless.

"What?! GAAAAHHH!" Screaming, Lyon was brutally assaulted by several ice dragonflies and electrocuted by each dragonfly until they shattered into small pieces once made contact with Lyon. Given the damage he took, Lyon was heavily breathing and injured, but still standing.

"Oh? You can still move? I'm impressed, considering you took all those dragonflies head-on," admitted Rufus, making a few more hand motions. "Memory-Make: Flame Dragon."

From the Magic Circle, a huge dragon made of roaring, red fires shot up into the skies, then zoomed downwards and appeared near its caster's side.

Gathering his strength, Lyon managed to cast another spell despite his injuries almost preventing him so. "I-Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!" Soon, a dragon completely made of ice flew down to Lyon's side, facing the fire dragon Rufus created.

**"Ooh! A clash between two dragons! One of fire, and the other of ice! It'll be a tough match, folks!" **

Rufus tsked at Lyon and shook his head. "Really? A dragon made of ice against my fire dragon? Whatever suits you, I suppose. Attack, my fire dragon!"

At the caster's command, the dragon of fire flew towards the dragon of ice, who tried to also assault the other. Their clash took place in the skies, where it was safer and had more room for battle. However, it was clear who the victor would be, since the elemental difference was too obvious.

The ice dragon came crashing down, shattering when it came into contact with the ground and glittering all around the floor. The fire dragon turned towards its next intended target: Lyon.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" Putting up a shield on time, Lyon braced himself for the impact to come. Due to the fire dragon's flaming body, it didn't take long for the ice shield to melt and crash into Lyon, who was immediantly battered up after the assault and left unconscious. Luckily, the dragon was weakened due to the ice dragon and the ice shield, or Lyon would have been in a much worst state than he already is.

"L-Lyon...?" muttered Azure, shocked over how badly injured Lyon was. He couldn't...there was no possible way that...but he was so strong! He's one of the strongest Mages she's met in her life! How could...?

**"T-that's the end of the match! Rufus Lore from Sabertooth wins! 10 points to Sabertooth!" **

While the crowd was cheering, nobody but Samuel noticed Azure slipping in the shadows and running somewhere. "Azure? Hey!" Samuel flew after Azure, managing to catch up to her and catching a glimpse of her face. Judging from her expression, Samuel knew exactly what Azure was about to do.

**"Now, here are the results for the 2nd Day of the Grand Magic Games!"**

**1st Place: Sabertooth (30 points)**

**2nd Place: Lamia Scale (19 Points)**

**3rd Place: Blue Pegasus (15 Points)**

**4th Place: Quatro Cerberus (15 Points)**

**5th Place: Mermaid Heel (14 Points)**

**6th Place: Fairy Tail (9 Points)**

* * *

_Later... _

"Can't you heal a bit faster?!" demanded Yuka towards Chelia, who was currently healing Lyon's wounds. Team Lamia Scale were borrowing an infirmary room, where they had laid Lyon in one of the beds after carrying him from the battlefield.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"Yuka, it's best not to disturb Chelia now," said Jura, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. "She won't be able to concentrate well. And, Toby? It's best if you stop pacing around the room. You're disturbing everyone."

"I can't help it, Jura-san!" cried out Toby, still pacing and running around the room. "Aaah! Is Lyon going to be okay?!"

Suddenly, the door swung wide open, revealing a panting Azure holding a heavy bucket filled with water. "Excuse me!" she shouted, rushing towards Lyon's side as Samuel flew right next to her.

"What's going on?! Why is she here?" demanded Toby, not wanting to be called by the annoying nickname Azure kept calling him. Azure picked up two stools nearby;one for herself, and the other to place the bucket on top near Lyon's side.

Azure quickly dumped her hands into the water, drenching her hands before placing them on one of Lyon's injuries. While Chelia was healing Lyon's other injuries, Azure concentrated on the spot she was focusing, emitting a light blue glow that slowly closed up his wounds.

"Wh-?! How?" Even Chelia seemed shocked and confused about Azure's type of magic and how it was relating to her healing magic.

Samuel sighed, pushing his glasses up. "Look, I can't give you any spoilers, but all Azure wants to do is help heal your friend, that's all. Just help her heal Lyon, and we'll be fine."

"A-Alright." Although a little shaken up by Azure's sudden appearance and the amount of blood Lyon lost, both girls worked together, and even though it took a few hours, most of Lyon's critical injuries healed.

"Ugh...ow...that fight really did a number on me," groaned Lyon, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Lyon!" Chelia and Azure shouted, happy to see he was finally awake and feeling alright.

"Huh? Chelia? Azure? Everyone? What's going on?"

Samuel flew up to him, explaining everything shortly. "In short, you lost against Rufus, was injured badly, and Chelia and Azure healed you."

"Oh, I see. Thank you, both of you." Lyon smiled generously and nodded at the two healers.

_'Kyaaaah! Lyon-sama thanked me!' _thought Chelia, her cheeks getting rosy as she made a happy, obvious look on her face.

"Uh...Lyon? There's something I...gotta tell ya," mumbled Azure, looking away as she tried to face the Ice Mage. "I um...Geez! I'm sorry for not cheering for you, okay?!"

"...What?"

Once again, Samuel took the role of explaining things. "Azure thinks it was her fault that you lost since she didn't cheer you on. She was actually telling Rufus to, and excuse my language, 'kick your ass.'"

"Yeah, she was pretty loud all right," added in Yuka, nodding his head. "Nearly blew my ears in."

"I was just...you know, still pissed off about the whole shooting thing from yesterday!" defended Azure, continuing. "And, I wanted you to have payback, but I never wanted you this hurt! So...I'm sorry, okay?"

"Azure, it's alright," assured Lyon. "I would have lost even if you cheered me on, so it's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, but..." Then, with a determined look in her eyes, she clasped both her wet hands onto Lyon's, shocking and angering Chelia.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing with Lyon-sama?!" yelled Chelia, placing her hands onto Azure's arms.

"Lyon, I hereby promise to go kick Sabertooth's asses not just for my guild, but for you too!" announced Azure. Although her wish was childish, the look on her eyes were not. "So until then, get better, so you can take on revenge and kick their asses too!"

"Uh...sure?"

With that said, Azure grinned and started skipping out of the room before turning around and waving at everyone. "Okay! Bye, Lyon! Get better! Bye, pinkie girl! Bye, baldie old man! Bye, brushy eyebrows guy! And bye, doggy man!"

"Pinkie girl?" Chelia tilted her head in confusion before figuring out that she was mostly wearing pink. "Ooh! How cute!~"

"Baldie old man?" In some way, Jura was very sensitive about his bald head.

"Brushy eyebrows guy?" Yuka didn't know why she could call him that and raised his...eyebrows.

"DAMNIT, STOP CALLING ME DOGGY MAN!"

"I apologize for my friend's behavior. She's always like that," said Samuel quickly before giving chase to Azure, which didn't take long. "Hey, Azure! You can't just go nicknaming people! It's rude!"

"Oopsie daisie!" giggled Azure, hugging Samuel close to her chest before finding herself in a park. It was already sundown, so she must have been in the infirmary for quite some time. She noticed Romeo sitting in a bench, his hair hiding his darkened eyes, though Azure didn't seem to notice.

Seeing Azure walk towards her, Romeo stood up and placed his hands in his pockets. "Oh, it's you. The others sent me to go find you. Let's just go."

Samuel noticed the restraint behind Romeo's words and how he was gritting his teeth, as if hiding some sort of anger. "Azure, hold on-"

"Oh, okay!" came Azure's chirpy tone. "Sorry for being late, but I had to help heal Lyon! He was really badly injured, and I had to heal him! But anyways, nice try about trying to beat Hibiki today! You were so close to beat-"

"Would you knock it off already?!" Snapping, Romeo interrupted Azure and whirled at her, facing with anger in his eyes. "Can't you see how I'm not in a talkactive mood right now?! Can't you see just how hurt and humilated I was today?! Huh?! Obviously you can't because you're such an idiot!"

Surprised at his outburst, Samuel tried to speak up. "Just calm down, Romeo. It's not good to be all ang-"

"Shut it, Samuel! I'm talking to the Usagi, not you!" Paying attention to Azure, who was wide eyed at his attitude, he continued. "Why don't you just shut up for once, huh? Why'd you convince my father to enter these stupid games in the first place, huh?! To humilate us more?!"

"No, it was to help Fairy Tail, that's all!" replied Azure, winching from all the shouting.

Romeo scoffed, lowering his hand as if annoyed at her. "Some help that was! You really are hopeless, aren't you, Azure?" Sighing, he turned around, muttering in a breath only Azure could hear.

"Sometimes, I wish you were dead."

"..."

The air suddenly felt thick, as if they were in space and had nothing to breath. Samuel had no idea what Romeo had just said, but judging from the silence coming from both Romeo and Azure, it wasn't pretty.

"...Okay, sure!" chirped Azure happily. "Romeo, I promise that I will bring victory to Fairy Tail, even if it kills me!"

"Yeah, whatever," grumbled Romeo, turning away and not wanting to hear the happy girl's annoying voice. After Azure and Samuel left, Romeo fell right back to his seat on the bench, clutching his forehead as he felt guilt rising up inside of him. "Goddamnit..."

* * *

**Yeah, so this was the best I could come up with the Day 2 events including the matches. I hope I did good in them, because I did my best to explain what was going on.**

**In the next chapter, it's going to be an entire chapter about the Day 3 event because it's so grand and huge! I'll try to put in as much detail as I can!**

**As for the fight scenes today, I tried to explain all the possible logic as I could. There are different people with different strengths, weaknesses, and stamina. Of course, someone would have to lose!**

**In the event today, you had to admit, Minerva would wipe the floor with any of the competitors thanks to her magic. I mean, come on, Terrain Magic, remember? I don't completely understand her magic, but if she was able to stop one of Natsu's most powerful spells, I think it'd be fair easy for her to take out the rest of the competitors in today's events.**

**Anyways, might take a while for me to write the next chapter, but until then, read and review!**


	17. Day 3 Event: Monster Labyrinth

**Okay, folks! Here we go with the 3rd Day event for the day!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail series, only the OCs! **

* * *

**"The day you've all been waiting for! The 3rd Day of the Grand Magic Games!" **

The audience applauded and made lots of noises and sounds for the grand opening for the 3rd day. Things were getting intense, and considering the large amount of points Sabertooth had gotten yesterday, it was clear who would win. But other fans still wanted to cheer on the other teams, except for, well, Fairy Tail.

The rest of the Fairy Tail members were still bummed out about yesterday's failures, and they were in last place just like every year. Everyone except Azure, who was looking forward to this day and looked proud and determined to make her guild a bit more respectful. Who could blame the others for being discourageous after their so many failures?

"Come on guys! Let's do this! Let's believe in ourselves!" shoued Azure happily, with Samuel sitting next to her. "And when we believe in ourselves, we can do anything!"

"...We are so screwed today," murmured Droy, chewing on a chicken leg.

"Damn right we are," said Jet, nodding his head, disbelieving himself.

**"For the 3rd Day's tournament event, it's called...Monster Labyrinth! Now, choose your participants!" **

"Memememememe! I wanna go! I wanna go!" Azure was practically begging and bouncing up and down, raising her hand with an energetic look on her face.

Samuel flipped the pages through the Grand Magic Games handbook and glanced at Azure. "You realize that this is your second try at an event, right? If you do this, you won't be able to participate in anymore events for the remainder of the games, alright?"

"I don't care! I wanna try this!"

Seeing that nobody was objecting to this, Alzack nodded. "Alright, go ahead. Nobody's saying anything."

"Yay!"

**"Our first runner up is Azure Fullbuster from Fairy Tail! She got in second place in the first day's events, so let's see how she fares in this one!" **

"Boo!"

"Fairy Tail sucks!"

"You're gonna lose!"

"A small fry like her won't last a minute!"

"Pick someone else!"

"For once, I agree with the crowd," grumbled Romeo, still mad about last night's events. He still felt a little guilty about yelling at Azure, but he needed to let something off his chest, so he picked Azure. Of course, knowing Azure, she might screw up this event.

Samuel frowned. "Don't say that. The least you could do is give her a little hope."

On Lamia Scale's side, Chelia felt all pumped up. "Alright! Maybe we have to fight monsters in this event! I should go!"

"Shouldn't Jura-san go? I mean, he is one of the Ten Wizard Saints," reminded Yuka.

Jura shook his head. "No, it's alright. If I participate in this event, there's no telling if I have to fight in one of the matches. I don't wish to overuse my magic in this event. Chelia, how about you go?"

Nodding, Chelia started skipping into the field. "I won't let Lamia Scale down!~"

**"Oh! The cutie from Lamia Scale comes out; Chelia Blendy!" **

"Hmm...who should we choose?" wondered Eve as Hibiki searched for the right candidate using his Archive Magic.

"Given the title, I might go against some monsters for a while, but for how long?" pondered Ren. "Hibiki's no good for long-time combat, Eve's still injured from previous events, and-"

"I'll go," decided Jenny, stepping up.

"Jenny?! Why you?!" exclaimed Eve, who was as surprised at the other male teammates.

"Easy! I have the perfect armor for combating monsters! It's not only for combat situtations, but also attractive and popular too! Besides, I'll try my best to avoid any monsters as I can!"

"But, Jenn-"

'Men!" Ichiya, who was once again in a strange pose with sparkles all over, spoke. "In times like this, true men must respect female decisions, even if it truly is hard!"

"Glad you understand, Ichiya-san!" sang Jenny as she walked into the battlefield. "Well, I'll be going!~"

**"Now here comes Jenny Realight, Miss Fiore from the Sorcerer Magazine and a current member of Blue Pegasus! Let's welcome this beauty!" **

Suddenly, more cheers, mostly from the males, filled the entire stadium, or possibly, the whole city of Crocus, considering how popular Jenny is. After all, this is the current 'Miss Fiore' partipating in one of the most famous events of the year.

"Miss Fiore?" wondered Azure out loud, turning to Chelia as if asking for answers.

"Hmm? Don't you read the Sorcerer Magazines? Jenny is like, a top supermodel! She's one of my idols!"

"Oh! My friend, Laki, always reads those! And so does Jet and Droy!"

"I should enter this one," suggested Warcry, having full confidence in himself.

"Yeah, good thinking! Your Tear Magic will definitely help you out!" agreed Rocker. "After all, we are...WILD!"

"FOUR!"

**"Now, Warcry from Quatro Cerberus enters the stage! Judging from his victory from yesterday's match, who knows if he'll win again?!" **

"Kagura-chan! Can I go? Can I, please?!" pleaded Millianna excitedly.

"Hmm...very well. I wish to perserve my strength for the matches. Just be careful."

"Yes!" Now, Millianna was sure she could win this event. Sure, Mermaid Heel might not immediantly be in first place since Sabertooth still had many more points than they do, but at least she'll earn some points! Besides, she knew how strong Azure could be, so she can handle her, and she has to be careful about Warcry and Chelia, and especially Jenny, but she knew their magics, so she'll be extra serious today! All that was left to worry was Sabertooth's participant...

**"Coming up is Millianna from the infamous Mermaid Heel! What wonders will she show us today?!" **

"Alright! If there are monsters involved, I'm the type of guy to handle them!" said Sting, grinning as he cracked his knuckles.

"Hold on, Sting." Rogue held an arm out in front of his friend. "I don't think it's wise for you to participate. Maybe the title's just tricking you. It doesn't necessarily have to mean there are monsters involved."

"No way! Sting's the best! He's got this!" said Lector, shaking his head.

"Yeah! I can handle this, Rogue!"

"No. I'm going, and that's that."

**"Oh! Surprisingly, Rogue Cheney from Sabertooth has decided to participate! Who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve?!" **

After all six participants were together in the center of the stadium, the entire area began shaking like crazy, causing many people to start panicking and grabbing onto their seats.

Luckily, the sudden earthquake only lasted for a few seconds, because then, a visible, large, medieval castle was in plain sight, right in front of the six participants. The gateway creaked opened and slowly lowered down to form a bridge.

Mato walked up to the six of them and announced loudly and clearly, "Welcome, all six of you! I'll now explain the rules of 'Monster Labyrinth!' Once you all enter inside, there are several paths to take, which will lead to many dungeons and so on! The goal is to reach to the top of the castle and touch the glowing orb! Whoever touches it first gets first place! Beware though! There are numerous monsters and traps all over, and we are not responsible for any deaths or injuries whatsoever!"

"I knew I should have participated!" mumbled Sting, slamming his fist down at the railing he was leaning forward. Rogue should have stood back and let him, but did he? No! He just had to go and assume that the words 'Monster Labyrinth' didn't mean anything involving monsters!

"Oh no," groaned Samuel, covering his face.

"What?" Seeing Samuel act like this was probably not a good thing in Max's mind.

"If there's one of the things Azure can't avoid, it's traps! She easily falls for them! There's no telling what sorts of traps could be in this event!"

"Hey, are you sure it was alright to let Chelia do this event?" wondered Sherry, concerned about her cousin as she walked up to Team Lamia Scale. "She's often clumsy."

"...Oh dear God, we made a horrible mistake!" cried out Toby.

* * *

Inside of the castle, the participants looked around, seeing nothing but several different paths to choose from. All six choose their own different ways and split up to explore the dark caverns of the castle, which was soon lit up by torches everywhere.

Seeing how there were shadows all over the castle, it was easy for Rogue to use his Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic to merge with the shadows and roam around much faster than anyone else. In addition, he was able to avoid any traps that ensnared several monsters and he didn't even have to fight any monsters on his way as he searched through every entrance he could find.

Rogue couldn't help but smirk to himself, feeling triumph. There was no way Sting would have been smart enough to pull his strategy! Knowing Sting, he would have at least tried to avoid all the traps, and battle any and every monster he saw, which would be a waste of time. Rogue's plan was more strategic and stealthy one. He was glad he participated instead of Sting.

* * *

**"It looks like Rogue is taking the lead! I wonder if he'll be the first to be the top?!" **

"Looks like it was a good idea for Rogue to enter this event," praised Rufus before noticing Sting was still pouting. "Oh come on, Sting. We all know what you would do if you had entered."

"I could do better than Rogue! I mena, he's not even fighting the monsters! That's so boring!"

"Hey, you're not the only one who thinks this is boring either!" spoke up Orga. "I could dominate that castle in no time!"

* * *

"Ooh? Please don't look at me!~" cried out Jenny, trying to put up a cute and seductive look as best as she could. She was currently wearing her Battle Form armor and practically showing her body to not only to the monsters she was battling with, but the entire audience watching as well!

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Aaah!" the small ape monsters were jumping up and down, obviously attracted by Jenny's beauty before they dropped their weapons. They were so mesmerized, so astonished, so overwhelmed...

...That they didn't even notice that they were being beaten up and thrown away by the very same beauty they saw.

"Hahaha! My seductive plans worked!" crackled Jenny, proudly before transforming back to her regular clothing. She turned and walked away from the pile of defeated ape monsters before taking a sharp turn to a new direction.

* * *

**"Oh! Jenny's infamous charms has not only captured the hearts of the monsters, but also to her fans as well! Let's all give a cheer for the Miss Fiore herself!"**

"Nice work, Jenny!" called out Hibiki, applauding for his teammate.

"If I were there, I would have taught those monkeys a lesson for even daring to look at a woman like that," snapped Ren, not amused at the somewhat perverted monsters.

"Still, Jenny-san's doing a great job!" Eve spoke excitedly. "Who knows; She might win this!"

* * *

"Hmm hmmm hmmm!~" Azure was happily skipping and humming to herself while exploring the dungeons. She was using her Dragon senses to help guide her, but all she could smell was dirty, murky waters, or dead rats. The sounds she heard were mostly dripping water from the ceilings or small animals scurrying around.

So far, every room or dungeon she's come across had no monsters and no stuff at all. Not even a single rock. Still, she kept her sword in her hands just in case any hidden monsters decided to get the jump on her.

"Ooh! Item!" Grinning, Azure rushed over to the ground and picked up some sort of pink bracelet in her hand. She lightly sniffed at it, noticing two different scents. One was of some sort of colorful fresh scent, but the other smelled...dirty...and very close as well.

Eyes sharpening, Azure dropped the bracelet and quickly deflected some claws from the monsters that appeared from the ceiling. The sound of blades clashing caused a few monsters to come out of hiding and arrive at the battle, surrounding Azure from the front and behind.

The monster that attacked Azure stepped back to gain some distance. It growled in disappointment that it failed to take out its target. It should have been a perfect ambush! The bracelet was supposed to be some bait for someone to pick up!

Not wasting time, Azure swiftly turned around and leaped towards a monster behind her, taking advantage of its surprise by slicing its body. She whirled around and charged at the remainder of the monsters in front of her, slashing a few times at two small monsters before cutting the last monster in half.

Taking a deep breath, Azure lowered her sword arm and grinned widely, picking up the bloody pink bracelet with her other hand. It seemed that during the fight, the blood of the enemies must have splattered all over the floor, thus getting all over the bracelet as well.

"Oh, neat! I can't wait to show this to Romeo! Maybe he'll forgive me if I give him to him later as an apology gift!"

* * *

"Pfffft!" Romeo spitted out the milk he was drinking when he heard Azure say that. His face brightened red at the mention of an apology gift. No, he wasn't red because he liked her or anything! It was just really, really hot!

"An apology gift?" wondered Kinana, turning to Romeo. "What is she talking about?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" _'Damn you, Azure!' _

**"And Azure takes another hit towards those monsters! She's so fast, I can barely see her! **

* * *

"BWAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Warcry constantly was using his Tear Magic, causing him to run faster and faster and knock down any monsters in his way with his increasing strength. The more he cried, the more his stats increased.

Meanwhile, a bear monster and a lizard monster were busy playing cards, bored out of their minds. Nobody had any idea where they even got the cards but it didn't matter, because soon, they heard some sort of yelling, and before they knew it, they were knocked down with footprint stamps on their faces.

"WILD FOURRRRRR!"

* * *

"Oh you have to be kidding me," groaned Yuka, unable to comprehend with the fact that Warcry was easily beating up the monsters with such a lame tactic.

"WILD FOUR! WILD FOUR! WILD FOUR!" Now all the fans of Quatro Cerbereus and the members were cheering and howling for Warcry, who was continuously running around the castle.

**"And just like that, Warcry is taking down the monsters AND still searching for the top of the castle! It's like a mass murder and a running marathon at the same time!" **

* * *

"Oh no! A trap!" said Chelia, being surrounded by several monsters. All she did was enter a different dungeon, and just as she was walking around, monsters quickly surrounded her and taken position.

All the monsters in the dungeon licked their lips, their desires hunger for fresh, pure meat. And this young human girl seemed to be the perfect meal for today! Oh, how they wish they could bite off and chew and munch on that white, soft skin!

The surrounding monsters charged at Chelia at all different sides, who secretly grinned to herself and threw herself into the air. Deploying her magic, Chelia then came then came down to slam a fiery punch of wind magic at the ground, creating a small crater from the impact. Not only that, but her Sky God Slayer's magic sent ripples and the monsters knocking off their feet.

"Sky God's Dance!" As the monsters started to get up, Chelia started running towards a couple of the monsters. Once she closed in, she extended her arms outward while rotating her torso around. Black spiraling currents sprang up upwards at the targetted monsters, lifting them several meters off the ground.

"Sky God's Bellow!" Cheerfully, Chelia quickly gathered air into her mouth and fired an enlarged, black tornado-like blast at all of the monsters. To make things interesting, while still performing the spell, Chelia started twirling around like a ballerina, bringing chaos to all of the monsters as the twirling hurricane started blasting them. Unfortunately, Chelia overlooked one problem when she finished off all the monsters.

All of her wind accidentally caused the torches to go out.

"Aah! It's so dark!"

* * *

**"And there you have it, folks! Chelia-tan managed to overwhelm the monsters with her magic! But can she make it through the dark? Let's see what the other contestants are doing!" **

"Looks like Chelia's overdoing it again," sighed Sherry, smiling a bit at her little cousin's clumsiness.

"At the very least, she managed to defeat those monsters," added Lyon, giving some credit to the Sky God Slayer. "Keep this up, and she might make it to the top."

* * *

"Whooo! I'm loving this!"

Millianna, now cheering and laughing, was swinging around using her whip to get around things. A few minutes ago, she discovered some pipes sticking out of the castle walls, and seeing her whip at her side, she had the idea of swinging like it was a tree swing.

The best part? This way, she gets to avoid any traps prepared below ground and any monsters. Millianna laughed at the stunned looks on the monsters when they realized she was too high for them to prey on. At least this way, she can continue swinging onto poles until-

Oh, looks like there are no more poles.

Millianna proceeded screaming while falling.

* * *

**"Oh no! Millianna was doing so well, swinging around with her whip!" **

"Uh...is she alright?" Beth asked, concerned about her cat-like friend. The screen did show Millianna falling, but afterwards, it went blank and dark, birnging up lots of murmurs from the audience.

Kagura nodded. "I know Millianna. She's not weak enough to die from a fall like that."

"I just hope you're right. I just know that Millianna's out there, giving it her all," replied Risley, turning back to the monitor. "Oh! There she is now!"

Now, the screen showed Millianna laying flat on her face, her body twitching as she slowly got up. _"Owowowowow! That really hurts!" _It didn't seem like Millianna was badly hurt, since she was airborne for about a few seconds.

"Whew! Looks like she was alright after all!" sighed Beth, finally getting some stress off her chest. At least Millianna was alright, but what about the rest of the competition?

* * *

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

Caught in another ambush, Chelia found herself confronting three large rock giants that stood in her way. Seeing how the way she went was now completely blocked by one of the rock giants, she had no choice but to fight.

However, in terms of Magic, and in this battle, Chelia obviously has the disadvantage here. One, the giants obviously have much higher defense and will be hard to break down, and two; Chelia's power contains the wind, and the giants are made of rock. On the up side, if Chelia gets injured, she can always automatically heal herself.

"Sky God's Boreas!" With a spiral of black wind swirling around in her hands, Chelia threw it at the first rock giant she saw, generating a black whirlwind that swallowed up that rock giant, but wasn't enough to take it out.

The rock giants decided to take their assault to full maximum, their instincts telling them that this young girl was very dangerous. They began moving as fast as she could, and started throwing punches left to right.

Being the agile girl she was, Chelia began easily dodging the heavy blows, hearing the sound of broken rubble being shattered and crushed. She was performing all sorts of acrobatics; backflips, front flips, cartwheels, you name it.

"God Slayer's Secret Art: Heavenly Gathering of Clouds!" Gathering a large amount of black, swirling wind around her arms, Chelia raised the winds above her head, which then formed like feather-like wings. Flapping her arms downwards, she sends them towards the tough rock giants, who were completely overwhelmed by the Magic Spell's might.

"WILD FOUR!" Out of nowhere, Warcry zoomed past the tired Chelia, who had collapsed to her knees due to overuse of her Magic Power. He had now entered a new passageway and was currently still trying to find his way to the top like the others.

"...What was that?"

* * *

"Great, just great," grumbled Millianna, her shoulders slumped as she was obviously in a bad mood. "First I get lost, my butt hurts, and I lost my whip to those nasty little toad things! Ugh!"

Dozen of minutes passed since all contestants entered the dark, moist dungeons of the castle, and Millianna was pretty sure no one had made it to the top yet. The castle was much more wide, deeper, and dangerous than anyone could have thought or anticipated, That was how dangerous this event was.

Spotting a person coming from another passageway, Millianna quickly realized it was Azure, who was wandering around like she was.

"Azure! Hey, Azure!"

Shouting and waving her arms, Millianna was unable to hold herself back any longer and started running towards Azure. She was sick and tired of the solitude she had been receiving every since the start of this event!

Hearing Millianna's voice, even though it was far away, Azure turned, seeing her cat lover friend running and waving her arms wildly at her. Azure waved back as a friendly greeting, but frowned when she heard some sort of creaking sound. Almost as if a weapon was being unsheathed...

"MILIANNA!"

Suddenly, Azure dashed off at a tremendous speed; the air quivering slightly at the booming impact. With all the speed, Azure traveled several meters in an instant like it was a heartbeat. She had tackled Millianna to the ground and held her with her right arm, and blocked whatever attack was coming with her sword using her left hand.

A tremendous metallic sound echoed throughout the surrounding walls. Sparks clashed, the ground nearly tremored, and the tension in the air was quite high, as if an urgent brake had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Moments ago, Millianna had unknowingly stepped on a tile that triggered a trap. An axe hidden in the darkness due to Magic was supposed to slice Millianna in half; had it not been for the intervention of Azure saving the Mermaid Heel Mage's life. Now, the axe had smashed into the ground, having sliced nothing but the ground.

Millianna's eyes nearly popped out at the thought of almost being killed by a trap. Her shock ceased to an end and she helped Azure up to her feet, who was panting heavily and was as shocked as Millianna.

"T-thanks...for, you know," gasped Millianna, still shaken up about the whole event. "Man, I owe you one! You saved my life!"

Quickly getting rid of any distracting emotions, Azure grinned at Millianna like nothing happened. "No problem, Millianna! Hey, so I'm lost, and you're lost, so how about we work together to get out of this event?"

Having no reason not to trust Azure, especially since she just risked her life to save hers, Millianna nodded. "Okay, I guess. A temporary alliance then."

* * *

**"This is a sudden turn of events! Two girls from different guilds forming an alliance together! Wonder what sort of events will happen next?" **

"Oi! Did you see how fast that girl went?" wondered Orga, still stunned by the impressive speed Azure demonstrated while trying to save Millianna. He wasn't the only one surprised, since lots of spectators were murmuring about the girl's speed as well.

"I-It's probably just a trick or something! Right, Sting?" called out Lector.

"Yeah. Maybe she just used her Magic as some sort of boost up or something. Just a fluke," agreed Sting. Though, he had to admit to himself, that moment was pretty cool.

"Hmm...I don't recall remembering any speed-boosting spells other than the Tear Magic," said Rufus.

"W-whoa...that's the fastest I've seen Azure go," said Wakaba. "Think she might have a chance at getting first place?"

"With the help of that Millianna girl, probably," Nab spoke his opinion. "If they don't get caught in many traps, that is."

* * *

In a single, dark room, there laid a blue orb that was the only thing illuminating the room. The rest was engulfed in complete, silent darkness. No monsters lurking around, no traps, not even a little mouse.

Nothing but the light inside.

Suddenly, out from the shadows, a lone man's palm placed onto the orb. The orb glowed brighter, filling more of the room before the mysterious man vanished.

* * *

**"And the first one to get out is Rogue Cheney! As expected from one of Sabertooth's finest!" **

Rogue, who had used up a lot of Magic Power to creep into the darkness, was panting and catching his breath. Not once had he stopped to take a rest. He was more focused on winning than anything else, and it was clear that his strategy would deem him the winner.

"Oh? Looks like Rogue is out of breath. He must have used up quite a lot of Magic Power," commented Rufus.

"Eh, he'll be fine. Bet he still needs to catch his breath," said Sting, not worrying about it too much.

"Fro thinks so too!"

* * *

"So, Azure," stated Millianna, trying to start a conversation. "Do you have a crush on anyone?"

"Hmm? Nope! I don't wanna crush anyone!" replied Azure, before tapping her chin in thought. "Although...there is one person in particular..."

"Ooh! You gotta tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone else! It'll be our little secret!" Millianna seemed to be a little overexcited about this, especially since she was all ears.

"Meh, okay! I wanna crush Sting!"

"...You...you mean, you like-like him, right?" questioned Millianna, a bit stunned that a young girl like her would want a much older guy that's probably like 5 years older than her. Actually, lots of girls her age have crushes on the famous Dragon Slayer Sting Eucliffe, so it's probably not surprising.

"Like him? Pfft! No way I like that blond bimbo! I wanna crush him and beat him up! Then, he'll never speak bad about Fairy Tail again!" To prove her point, Azure showed her muscles and was all pumped up, looking very determined.

"Oh...I see..."

"But, there was this other guy who wanted to crush me."

That intrigued Millianna. "Oh? Who?"

"Well, my friend, Kinana, she told me that Eve wanted to crush me. I didn't know why."

Millianna squealed loudly and clapped her hands. "Eve Tearm?! From Blue Pegasus?!"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Eve definitely has a crush on you, alright! He likes you!"

That only confused Azure more. "He likes me, but he wants to crush me? I don't-Oh! I get it!"

That only brightened Millianna's mood more. "Really?! What?!"

"Eve wants to spar with me! That's why he wants to crush me! But at the same time, he still likes being my friend! Oh! I get it now!"

Instantly, Millianna became quite annoyed and sweatdropped at Azure's response. However, this was Azure, the oblivious, yet cute girl, so maybe she doesn't completely know what love is.

The Mermaid Heel Mage sighed, giving up. "Oh! What about your friend, Romeo? Do you like him?"

"Yeah, totally. But I wanna crush him! Hey, maybe I should spar with him sometime! Yeah! It'll be total payback for all the rude things he's said to me before! Especially yesterday when he told me he wished I was dead!"

"Alright, whatever you want, Az-wait, he told you WHAT?!"

* * *

The Fairy Tail guild members turned towards Romeo, who was blushing red from all the attention going on about him. Seriously, was all the private gossiping shown really necessary? Well, at least the Usagi didn't hate him.

"Romeo, what was she talking about?" asked Kinana, curious and noticing about Azure's words very carefully.

"Nothing! Nothing!"

"Did you really wish she was dead?" wondered Wakaba, looking a bit stern and strict.

"No!"

_**"And yeah, he totally said he wished I was dead. But I wanna make it up to him by giving him an apology gift! Ta-dah!" **_

The projectile screen switched over to Azure's hand, which held a bloody pink bracelet. That happened to be the same bracelet she found earlier, and it appeared she didn't bother to even clean it.

Hearing the confession from Azure's own mouth, everyone now reverted back to Romeo, who was sweating and feeling quite uncomfortably, being the center of attention.

**_"Hey! That's bracelet! You found it, Azure! Thanks!"_**

**_"Huh? Really? Aw! Now I don't have an apology gift for Romeo!"_**

**_"Don't worry! Hey, how about I treat you to some cake later? There's this really sweet cake store I know!"_**

**_"Yay! I love cake!" _**

* * *

"...I think we're los-"

"NO KIDDING!"

For the next hour, both Millianna and Azure have been taking possibly the wrong turns and wrong paths that probably lead them farther away from their goal. How? Every single choice Azure made would result in either a battle with monsters, or a trap waiting for them.

"Oh come on!" assured Azure, giving off a cheeky grin before opening a door that would lead to another room. "I'm pretty sure it's this way! Come on!"

Millianna sighed, still not figuring out why she continued following the girl's orders every single time. Well, at least a few things came out of her wrong choices each time. They did get a bit stronger, and there were some treasure like jewelry they found, which Azure gave them all away to Millianna because she didn't want to be girly.

Inside the room was completely lit, with no fires providing the light. Only lacrimas designed for light sources were the only sources that brightened their way. There was completely nothing in the room, only the concrete walls and the stone-like floor.

"See? Nothing's happening! What could possibly go wrong?" said Azure happily before taking a step forward, only to trigger a trap.

The door behind them crashed downwards, blocking their only exit out. The only other exit was on the other side of the room, which was far away.

"AZURE!"

"Wah! Okay! Okay! Why do things go wrong every time people say stuff like that, though? What do we do?!"

"Okay, just calm down! We just need to-"

The entire room started rumbling and shaking, but not enough so that the ceiling doesn't collapse on top of them. Instead, doors magically appeared around the walls, and coming out were monsters that surrounded the room.

Needless to say, both Millianna, and Azure, who was usually battle-crazed, were stunned.

"No way!" gasped Azure, gripping the handle of her sword while Millianna stood by her, ready to unleash her magic on the terrifying beasts.

A bull monster pricked his nose and roared, making the first assault before swinging his axe at her with powerful, shattering might.

However, with great strength, comes slow speed.

Azure's blade swung upwards from below in a flash before stabbing her sword straight into its big belly. She leaped into his belly and pounced off, using her strength to pull her sword out of the monster's belly.

Although severely injured, the monster roared in anger and started swinging his axe as many times and as quickly as possibly. Due to his slow movements, especially since he was bleeding out, Azure merely continued to dodge his attacks without hurry.

At last, when the monster swung from above once again, Azure slashed upwards, knocking the monster off balance before executing four swift strikes to his chest, killing him effectively. Behind her, Millianna was knocking out other monsters, using her magic specialty to bind and wear down the monsters, but there were still many monsters.

"Azure! Let's do this!" shouted Millianna, successfully defeating another monster and breaking his arm.

"Yeah!" Azure turned around, facing the large amount of monsters as she raised her sword above her head.

Soon, a chaotic battle royale began, with the sounds of roars, clashing, and cries soon filling the entire room.

Millianna and Azure already experienced fighting alongside with each other, so it was a bit easier fighting the monsters. Millianna kept using her magic to tangle monsters and in addition, combining her martial arts skills to knock out her foes. Azure herself used her superb agility and speed to easily dodge assaults on her, making her rush into the enemy and counterattack with devastating attacks.

Even so, with the combined forces of the two, it would take a while to take down the monsters, no matter how weak they were.

* * *

_Several hours later... _

After finally locating the glowing orb and touching it, a battered Millianna and Azure found themselves back in the stadium ground, panting heavily.

Millianna's cape was ripped and torn, and some bruises were on her lower body, but that was nothing compared to Azure's wounds. Azure had monster blood splattered all over her clothing, lightweighted armor, and long hair. She had a few cuts and gashes on her legs and arms, but not too deeply.

Seeing Rogue and the other contestants in the same area, Azure asked, "So...did me and Milli...get first place?"

"No!" said Mato, walking up to her. "You two are the last people to get out! You weren't actually supposed to kill ALL the monsters in the event!"

"...Oops?"

**Sabertooth: 6 Points (36 Points)**

**Lamia Scale: 5 Points (24 Points)**

**Quatro Cerberus: 4 Points (19 Points)**

**Blue Pegasus: 3 Points (18 Points)**

**Mermaid Heel: 2 Points (16 Points)**

**Fairy Tail: 2 Points (11 Points)**

* * *

**Ok, I tried to rush this as much as I could. Sorry if the battles weren't as detailed as you thought it might be, but I tried my best, okay? It's been about a month since I last updated this, but here it is!**

**Yeah, and by the way, I keep hearing about this one guy who keep harrassing and complaining to people who make Fairy Tail gender bender fanfics. Just a warning to all you folks!**

**Also, I won't be updating this story for a while. I have too much stuff to do, plus I was planning on making a DBZ Xenoverse fanfic. So, see ya in a few months or so!**


	18. Day 3 Continuation: Battle

**Heeeerrrrreeee's Johnny!**

**Yeah, no idea where I got that reference from, but anyways, here's the new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Hey, I apologized, didn't I? Besides, I wasn't gone that long!"

"6 hours! You were gone for 6 hours with that Mermaid Heel woman! If it weren't for the whole audience being entertained by your antics and fights during the event, I'd say that the judges would have pulled the plug on the event already!"

While the workers focused on setting up the battlefield, every single member from each team returned to their guilds and waited for the upcoming battles. In the meantime, Azure and Macao were bickering over Azure's safety and how she should have gotten out much faster.

Azure stretched her limbs and yawned, getting a little tired of hearing Macao lecture her over and over. "Jeez, I get it, old man! I'll try and defeat more monsters next time! Man! That was some good fighting!"

Good fighting? Might as well throw in the towel if so many monsters outnumbered just one fighter. Nobody would even think of encountering multiple monsters at once and expect to make it out alive! Well, except for Azure in this case. Oh, and Millianna from Mermaid Heel counts as well since she helped out.

**"AHEM! Attention, all audience! It seems that we are ready to begin the matches!" **announced one of the hosts, causing the crowd to cheer and applaud after all the of the waiting they've suffered. **"Up first...Fairy Tail's Alzack Connell vs Quatro Cerberus' Rocker!" **

"Well, guess I'm up first," said Alzack, who didn't look quite confident in himself. "Wish me luck, guys."

Not noticing his discouragment, Azure jumped up and down with a grin. "Yeah! Go, Alzack! You can do it!"

Samuel sweatdropped before clapping slowly. "Uh...Sure. Not sure how you'll be able to win, but there's a chance within my calculations.

"Now, now. Don't be so sad. Even if you lose, it's not so bad," assured Bisca, walking towards her husband before pecking him on the cheek.

"Papa can win! Go, Papa!" cheered Asuka, copying Azure's movements by also jumping up and down.

Alzack smiled at their attempts on cheering his spirits up. Maybe he shouldn't lose hope just yet. After all, people were depending on him to do his best even if he does end up losing. Why was he so discouraged in the first place? After all, the fight hasn't even started yet!

Soon, Alzack and his opponent, Rocker, walked onto the battlefield where millions of fans cheered them on. Well, mostly on Rocker since not many fans supported Fairy Tail's efforts due to their low reputation.

Being part of the wild and loud Quatro Cerberus, Rocker couldn't help but confide himself by chanting the usual catchphrase of his guild. "WILD-!"

"FOUR!" The rest of his team members finished for him, yelling in unison. As long as they believed in him, Rocker couldn't possibly lose! Especially to the weak-known guild known as Fairy Tail!

"OOOOHHH! They have their own cheer! Let's cheer up your Papa, Asuka-chan!" said Azure excitedly before throwing her arms up in the air. "Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail!"

Asuka grinned before chanting over and over the same cheer. "Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail!"

"N-nice job, you two," said Bisca, awkwardly clapping for them as everyone else didn't bother cheering for Alzack. It wasn't that they wanted Alzack to lose, but...they felt more embarrassed since Asuka and Azure were bringing unncessary attention towards them.

Alzack facepalmed himself, shaking his head and sighing. Deep down, he knew they were only trying to help but...Oh, well. If he's going to fight, might as well have some cheering fans to boot with. Besides, he told himself not to lose hope and to fight like a true Fairy Tail wizard should.

**"3...2...1...FIGHT!" **

Wanting to make the first move, Alzack leaped away for some distance as he swiftly took out his revolvers. "Spark Shot!" Aiming accurately for his opponent's vital spots, Alzack fired away multiple bullets filled with electricity, meant to stun him.

Grinning, Rocker jumped out of the way as he performed his own magic. "Drill 'N Rock!" His arms and legs began rotating at high speeds thanks to his unique Magic; resembling drills. Taking off, Rocker started to close in at Alzack's location, something the gunner noticed.

"T-Tornado Shot!" In a panic, Alzack propelled himself high upwards into the sky by firing two wind bullets from his revolvers, which then merged together to create a tornado that caused Rocker to stop dead in his tracks.

Asuka squealed during all the fighting. "Yay! Papa's flying!"

"Yeah! Now use your lightning and wind bullet to create a BIG EXPLOSION!" hollered Azure, jumping up and throwing her fist into the air excitedly. "GO, ALZACK!"

_'That's actually not a bad idea,' _thought Alzack, who was starting to fall after being in mid-air for a few seconds. In order to ease his fall, Alzack launched two different bullets from his revolvers; one of electricity and the other full of wind.

Rocker jumped back to avoid such an attack, but he clearly underestimated the power of the fused bullets. Once the two bullets collided and merged with one another, it shined like a star before exploded upon contact with the ground, creating an electrical blast with winds strong enough to send Rocker flying back a little.

Alzack landed safely on his own two feet only to nearly collapse on his knees. He steadied his breathing, trying to get a grip on himself. Who knew using combination Magic using his elemental bullets would cost him so much Magic? He should conserve his energy and wait for an opening to finish off his-!

"WILD FOUR!" While Alzack was distracted by his own thoughts, Rocker quickly recovered and zoomed in towards the man using his enhancing Magic. Stopping in front of the man, Rocker threw a punch using the still ending part of his currently spinning arm. Due to the force of his magically enhanced fist, Alzack was sent flying all the way to the air with blood spilling out of his mouth.

"Alzack!" cried out several Fairy Tail members. Concern for her daughter, Bisca averted her eyes away by embracing her, burying her face into her chest to in order to hide the pain Alzack had now experienced.

Rocker stood back and watched as his opponent collapsed to the ground. Growing a little worried, Rocker walked towards him and pressed two fingers to his throat, feeling a sort of thumping sensation. He raised his hand and announced, "He's fine! Probably unconscious!"

**"And the winner is Rocker from Quatro Cerberus! 10 points to the guild!" **

"YEAH! WILD FOUR!" Pleased with his victory, Rocker hollered and cried loudly his guild's cry as he made his way back towards his guild members in order to embrace the love of victory.

"Ugh..." Alzack groaned as he stood up and stumbled away, trying to reach where his guild members are. While he specializes in sharpshooting, he's terrible with close combat, which is one of the reasons why he lost. The other was because Rocker was physically too strong for him to handle. The moment he came in close, Alzack just knew he would lose since he's never gotten into a fist fight before.

"Awww! Alzack lost!" complained Azure as Warren and Max helped Alzack settle down in a comfortable seat. "Good job, though!"

Growing frustrated by Azure's cheerful attitude, Romeo stomped up to her. "Hey! Can you be serious, for like, two minutes or is that too much for you? He's injured, for crying out loud!"

Cheeks puffing, Azure pouted. "I can too be serious whenever I want to! I just don't wanna right now! And besides, all he needs is some rest and he'll be okay!"

Coughing out blood into a napkin, Alzack turned to Romeo, wanting to end this conflict. Just all of the shouting and noises was giving him a nasty headache, already. "Just...stop...both of you, alright?"

Bisca and Asuka rushed at his side; both worried for his health. "Are you okay? Do you need some water or anything?"

Alzack shook his head and gave them a reassuring smile. "If it's no trouble at all, I'd like to go to the infirmary. I think I might need some shut-eye. *Yawn*."

Nodding, Bisca, Jet, and Droy carried the gunslinger towards the infirmary with Asuka following them from behind. Samuel opened his mouth to point out that Azure could have healed him if she had some water but closed his mouth shut. He knew that Alzack needed sleep, so he'll remind Azure of her task later after the Games today.

**"Now that's all settled up! Time for the next match! Jenny Realight from Blue Pegasus vs Kagura Mikazuchi from Mermaid Heel!" **

"Jenny, good luck, alright?" encouraged Hibiki before delivering a kiss to her lips. Smiling, Jenny wrapped her arms around the taller man's neck as their kiss grew more hot and intense as time passed.

"HEY!" Ren gently pried the two of them away, annoyed. "You know, you guys can make out later, but now's not the time."

Jenny giggled and winked at Ren before turning to Hibiki. "Aww! But...Just one more kiss?~"

"NO."

"Awwww! Hibiki is sharing a kiss with some big boobed girl like a prince kissing a princess!" cooed Azure, having seen their kiss from afar thanks to her Dragon sight.

Some of her guild members were taken aback by her choice of descriptive words, as evident from their bleeding noses. "Uh...What?"

"The blond haired girl with the ponytail and pretty dress and big boobs! That's who I'm talking about!"

Taking out some binoculars from his bag, Samuel sat on the stone railing and spied on the girl whom Hibiki was proceeding to make out with. "Oh, you mean Jenny Realight, the current Miss Fiore. Next time Azure, try not using vulgar words to describe someone."

"Ooh! The whole Miss Fiore thing means she's the most popular and beautiful girl in the magazines, right?" asked Azure, interested.

"Yes, that, and all of Fiore."

"Cool! Is she in Hibiki's team?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then, I'll cheer on Team Blue Pegasus! Go, Jenny!"

"Oh? So, you're the infamous Kagura of Mermaid Heel, huh?" Jenny asked her female opponent, looking up and down at her figure. "I hear you're a pretty strong swordswoman, but even so, I win by beauty. You could never be as lovely and beautiful than me! Ohohohoho!~"

"Man, what a stuck up girl!" said Laki, slightly disgusted by Jenny's cocky attitude. "I get that she's Miss Fiore and all, but jeez..."

"I don't mind!" admitted Azure, not even worried or bothered. "As long as Jenny can win this round, she can talk and get as confident as she wants! Go, Jenny!"

Resting her gloved palms onto the hilt of her sheathed blade, Kagura was not moved by Jenny's words of discouragment. "...Are you done? If so, then let me tell you this. I care not of anything relating to appearance. Victory is all I seek, and seeing how confident you're suddenly getting, it'll take me less time to take you down."

"Oooooooh! She's so cool!" awed Azure with glittering eyes as she drooled out of amazement. "That's it! Kagura's definitely on my cheering list!"

Sweatdropping, Max sighed and asked, "Jeez, who is it, then? Who are you cheering for? Jenny or Kagura?"

"BOTH! GO BEAT EACH OTHER UP, BOTH OF YOU!"

Samuel shook his head, having expected this. "Azure is too easily taken in by the 'Cool Girl' types. She thinks if she pays attention to them and their attention, she'll be as cool as them. As usual,. she's naive."

**"Are you two ready? 3...2...1...BEGIN!" **

"...I'm interested in what sort of power my opponent has, so I'll allow you to take the first move," Kagura told her, standing tall while readying her wrapped sword.

"Oh? You'll regret those words, you know," said Jenny, smirking as a circle of light veiled over her entire beautiful body. In a few mere seconds, she donned a dark magenta-colored armored outfit with a rose headband to match. Her battle armor covered everything but her belly area, but still left a fair amount of cleavage to reveal and some protective body armor.

"Oooooooh! So cool! What kind of Magic is that, Samuel? Samuel, tell me!" Azure begged, eagered to learn of the Magic.

"That, Azure, is Take Over Magic. It's a special kind of Magic that allows the users to take over the abilities of a certain something and use it as their own to increase their physical capacities. For instance, the type of Take Over Magic Jenny wields is called Machina Soul, which allows her to touch different types of machinery and use their assets for herself. It seems that in this way, she can wield all sorts of different weaponary."

"Cool! So, if I wanted to absorb machines and stuff like that, I can transform into a robot? COOL!" gasped Azure; eyes sparkling like crazy.

"Azure, that's not how-*sigh* Never mind." Samuel knew that whenever Azure was like this, she was lost in her own imagination. _'Yet another Magic Type added to the List of Magic Azure wants.' _

"...So, that's your true power?" questioned Kagura, her stone-like expression never changing or flinching for even a second.

Hands on her hips, Jenny stood boldly and proudly. "That's right! As long as I have this, there's no way that you'll-!"

**SWOOSH! **In a flash, Kagura was right behind Jenny, wielding her still-sheathed blade. The armor protecting Jenny disappeared in an instant right before Jenny collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The crowd grew silent, shell-shocked over what had happened. In a second, Kagura had just knocked out the famous Miss Fiore in just one blow and so fast too! Soon, they burst into cheers, getting excited of how strong Kagura proved herself to be.

**"And there you have it! The winner is Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi! 10 Points to Team Mermaid Heel!" **

"Jenny!" cried out Hibiki as he and the rest of his team members jumped over the ledge of their area before landing in the sandy grounds. Kagura closed her eyes and walked away, looking disatisfied as Jenny's team members rushed to help her.

"Unbelievable...And so fast too," commented Wakaba, whose cigar dropped out of shock and was left forgotten.

"I'd hate to see what would happen if one of us were to pair up against a dangerous foe like her," said Warren, shivering at the sight of Kagura's figure leaving the arena.

"Whoa...Kagura's got some speed, that's for sure," commented Azure before grinning. "But not as fast as me!"

"True, but she could still beat you in swordsmanship skills," replied Samuel, pushing his glasses up. "Remember, you weren't properly trained with the sword. All you do is swing and stab with that weapon."

Pouting, Azure crossed her arms. "I know! I know! You don't have to rub it in every time!"

"Don't you think you're getting a bit too over your head?" Romeo scoffed. "I doubt you can even defeat Kagura."

"I can so! I'm strong! You've seen me in action!"

"Yeah, but not strong enough to beat Kagura. Face it, you'll lose."

Azure was getting sick and tired of Romeo's stuck-up attitude and how he constantly kept acting like a jerk. Yet, she remembered Samuel's words to stay cool. Taking some deep breaths, Azure smirked; seeing how she could prove him wrong when it was her turn to fight. Right now, she was surpressing the urge to go up and punch Romeo. Especially when Master Macao was there.

"It seems that young Jenny will be alright," said Ichiya, posing as Hibiki scooped up the unconscious Jenny in his arms. "Men! We must get Jenny comfortable so that she may rest easily from her fight!"

"Yes, Master!" The Trimens bowed their heads before running out of the battlefield and hurrying to lead Jenny to some safety. They were still shocked and clearly underestimated Kagura's power. If they wanted to be as strong as her, they knew they needed hardcore training.

**"Now that that's settled, it's time for the final fight of the day! Sabertooth's Minerva Orland vs Lamia Scale's Chelia Blendy!" **

Watching their Guildmaster's daughter walking onto the battlefield, Sting and the others couldn't help but already confide in her. They already know how extremely powerful Minerva can be, and how rarely she grows serious in a fight. That just goes to show how strong Sabertooth can be.

Chelia ran outside eagerly, ready for combat. Since she posesses one of the most powerful Magics of all history, she felt confident that she wouldn't lose no matter what. Besides, if she gets injured, then she can always automatically heal herself with her Magic!

Seeing his female team member arriving outside, Lyon called out, "Chelia! Just do your best out there!"

"Yeah! Go for it, Chelia!" called out Toby and Sherry.

Grinning, Chelia waved at them. "Don't worry! I'll be fine! I'm sure I can win this?"

Slightly amused by her declaration, Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Are you certain? Sabertooth isn't meant to be underestimated so easily, kid. You've got a long way to go before you can beat me, little girl."

"Hmph! Just to let you know, I'm not a kid! I'm a teenager!" bragged Chelia, pointing to her chest as she stood up proudly. "You'll see how strong I am once we fight!"

**"Alright, let the match begin in 3...2...1...GO!" **

Taking off into the air by jumping off the ground, Chelia consumed large amounts of wind, preparing for something while Minerva stood in her current position, unmoving. "Sky Dragon's Bellow!"Massive black air streams burst out of her mouth and headed downwards towards Minerva in a form of a tornado.

Suddenly, Minerva disappeared, and in her place, was Chelia.

"Gyaaaaaahhhh!" screamed Chelia, having been hit by her own blast of wind before flying into the skies due to the impact. Minerva waved her arms as she started landing to the ground; explosives bursting like balloons right behind Chelia as she was overwhelmed by the destructive forces.

"Chelia!" yelled Lyon and Sherry, shocked at the sudden turn of events. What just happened?! How did Minerva suddenly get the edge over Chelia, the Sky God Slayer?

**"Oh, my! I'm not sure what happened, but it appears that Chelia was hit by not just explosives, but by her own attack as well!" **

Stepping onto the ground lightly, Minerva smirked with her back turned as Chelia collapsed to the ground, completely battered and exhausted from all of the Magic attacks she took. It was a miracle that she was still breathing after having confronted a couple of explosives head on.

"Pinky! Get up! Fight, fight, fight!" called out Azure, cheering her heart out for Lyon's team. If Chelia was a part of Lyon's team, then, damnit, she was gonna cheer, too!

"She does have a name, you know," reminded Samuel before glancing at Minerva suspiciously. "I know she has some sort of Magic...But I can't quite describe what kind it is until I see more of it myself."

**"Oh? Is this it? Could Minerva Orland have won?" **

"Wait, please!" called out Chelia, surrounded by a light blue aura as she stood up with ease. Her smile was as bright as the light illuminating her body, washing away her wounds as if they've never appeared.

Minerva's eyes widen a little before regaining their calm state. "Oh? I see. So, you're the famous Sky God Slayer from Lamia Scale, huh? Looks like the rumors of your Healing Magic are true. They truly are strong."

"Hehe! Thanks!" Bending down into a fighting position, Chelia said, "But, I'm not gonna hold ba-Huh?!"

Finding herself trapped in a strange bubble, Chelia struggled to move, only to found herself unable to. Looking around, she saw the true possesser of such Magic; Minerva. Before she could try and use a Magic Spell, she felt her strength and Magic sapping away even as she kept thinking. "What...What's going...?"

"Allow me to explain," said Minerva, who barely broke a sweat ever since the fight began. "This is part of my Territory Magic. Now that you're trapped in my little...'space,' your Magic is slowly being drained away until there's nothing left. But, the more I focus onto you, the more your Magic will be drained. Get it, kid?"

"I see! Territory Magic!" gasped Samuel. According to the expression on his face, he must be extremely shocked and worried about such Magic.

"What's with the face, Samuel?" asked Warren. "Mind explaining to everyone?"

"Territory Magic is a Caster Type with the power to manipulate space in a sort of manner. The wielder of such Magic can manipulate the space around any object or substance they choose. They can even generate heat and explosives, teleport people or objects, and grant the user the abilitiy to switch places with people as long as they're nearby. In addition, this Magic can trap others into the very same bubble space and drain their Magic Power away. I read all about it in books, but never came across a user of such powerful Magic."

"N-no way..." muttered Chelia, urging to hold on. "You mean, from the...the...v-very b-b-beginning...Y-you could have...?"

"That's right. I could have easily pulled this little Spell out and sucked your Magic out right away, but I wanted to see how strong you truly are. Besides, your healing trick was going to be much of a nuisance, so why not suck your Magic Power out before you can use anymore of it? You do need Magic Power in order to heal, right?"

"Y-you..."

"Bitch? Horrible person? Jerk? Please." Minerva waved off whatever Chelia was going to say without a care in the world. "I could care less of what you think. Oh? It seems that your Magic is fully depleted now. Oh, well."

As soon as Minerva released the bubble-like sphere, Chelia used the rest of her remaining physical strength to charge towards her in an attempt to engage her in close combat. All she got instead was a faceful of explosives by Minerva truly; thus knocking her out.

**"C-Chelia is out! The winner is Minerva Orland! 10 points to Sabertooth!" **

After the match was declared officially over, Team Lamia Scale and Sherry jumped over the ledge to provide medical aid for their fallen comrade as Minerva walked away. Since they didn't have any medical supplies on them, all they could do was carry Chelia to the infirmary.

**"Now that all the matches for the 3rd day are over, here are the current results for all teams!"**

**Sabertooth: 46 Points**

**Quatro Cerberus: 29 Points**

**Mermaid Heel: 26 Points**

**Lamia Scale: 24 Points**

**Blue Pegasus: 18 Points**

**Fairy Tail: 11 Points**

* * *

_Later that day... _

Once the 3rd Day was over for now, Azure made sure that her friends were mostly healed using her Healing Magic that came from her Dragon Slaying Magic. Of course, Samuel made sure that she didn't use all of her Magic Power up, considering that she might make some more use for it tommorow.

Keeping her promise, Millianna led Azure and Samuel to a small bakery that served as a cafe so that they could spend some time together. The Mermaid Heel Mage offered to pay so long as she got to cuddle Samuel as soon as they finished the cake; something Azure agreed upon while Samuel tried to protest, only to fail.

"Yay! Cake! Cake!" cheered Azure, waving her arms in the air. Millianna presented a plate filled with a tiny cake in her hands as she walked her way back to Azure and Samuel, who were currently saving seats for the three of them.

Before Azure could dig in, Millianna lightly flicked her on the forehead, pushing her back a little. "Hold it, Azure. I need to divide this cake up into three pieces, alright?"

"Aww...Okay."

While Millianna neatly began slicing the cake with her knife, Samuel began writing down strategies onto his book. He tapped his pencil against his whiskers, trying to concentrate on what might happen the next day. While he can't figure out the connection of the Events, he can at least try to find out whose fighting who.

"Oooh! Whacha doin, Samuel?" Azure asked, looking down at his notes.

Knowing the countless of times Azure's done this, Samuel sighed, ignoring her as he allowed her to read his notes. "Just working up on some plans for tommorow."

"Cool! Let me see...Oh! 'Secret Plan to-'"

Instantly, Samuel shut his book closed, glaring at his sister-like friend. "Hey! Potential threat in front of us!" He nudged her, urging her to look ahead at Millianna, who was placing the pieces onto separate plates.

"Awwww! Lemme see! I wanna keep reading!" whined Azure, reaching out for Samuel's notebook.

It didn't take much for Samuel to find a distraction for his loud-mouthed friend. "Millianna! How's the cake doing?"

"All done! Here you go, Azure!"

Having quickly forgotten about the notebook, Azure paid attention to her share of the cake. "Ooh! Cake! Yummy!" She stabbed her fork into a chunk of it and swallowed it completely, enjoying the sweet sansation of the cake. "Mmmm!"

Millianna joined her in the chorus of moans after devouring some parts of her sliced cake. Both her and Azure grinned and took things slowly as they ate their cake bit by bit until there was nothing left in their plates. Not even a single crumb.

Samuel, however, took his time eating. Although his cake was splendid, he preferred to work than to eat more. He scribbled more thoughts onto his notes, visualizing them as calculations while trying to figure out what to do next in strategies.

"I still can't believe we killed all those Monsters in the last Event," admitted Millianna after sipping her own tea.

"I still can't believe it, either! Ha! Now that'll teach Sabertooth not to mess with Fairy Tail!" bragged Azure cheerfully, showing off her small muscles.

_'Better not tell her that it'll take more than that to impress Sabertooth. Especially when they've got the powerhouse, Orga, on their side,' _thought Millianna, eyebrows narrowing. "Well, at least both of us got 2 points. Not much, but better than nothing."

"Yeah...I don't get why Master had to yell at me, though. All I wanted to do was kill some Monsters. Is that so bad?"

Samuel sweatdropped, looking up from his notebook. "Yes, Azure. Yes, it is. This was a first-one-out-wins challenge, not a Monster killing competition. You're lucky Millianna had your back the entire time!"

"Besides," added Millianna. "I think your Guildmaster was just worried about you, that's all. People can yell at you to prove that they care about you. I know it seems difficult, but I've been there. Kagura-chan's been helping me despite her silent attitude."

"Oh! You mean the sword lady from before?" asked Azure, receiving a nod from the cat-like woman. "But...Master is a guy. I've never seen boobs on a guy-Samuel? Do guys have boobs like girls?"

"Uhh..." Samuel's mind shut down for a moment before he thought up of another way to distract her. "Oh! Azure, you can have my cake!"

"Yay! More cake for me!"

While Azure was gobbling the cake up like a famished person, Samuel turned to Millianna, advising her, "Don't mention anything related to the...chest. Azure easily gets jealous of those with big chests."

"Oh! Got it, kitty!~" Immediantly, Millianna grabbed Samuel and squeezed him close to his cleavage, embracing him with all her strength. Azure laughed at Samuel's wiggling form trapped between Millianna's chest as she purred happily. If only she brought a camera...

* * *

**Okay, people! Sorry for taking so long, but you know how it goes, the whole school and busy times and stuff. Luckily, I got a week off, so I'm free to relax and enjoy what time I have before working!**

**Read and review!**


	19. Day 4

**Just this one more chapter...and you'll get to see a top-notch chapter next time!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs! **

* * *

**"It's the moment you've all been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen! The 4th day of the annual Grand Magic Games!" **

As the days were drawing to a close for the Grand Magic Games, the audience grew more excited over the results at the end of this year's Grand Magic Games. They cheered for all of the teams, placing bets on who would win with the exception of the weakened Fairy Tail. Apparently, not everyone acknowledges Fairy Tail's strength even now due to the absence of many deceased and powerful Mages.

Unfortunately for some, the weather had worsen with high qualities of rain; the light showers beginning early in the morning. However, that didn't seem to bother the others since they were more fixated on the Grand Magic Games. Plus, they all wore raincoats and umbrellas, so the rain barely had an effect on them. They were just lucky that a thunderstorm didn't pick up that day.

"Azure! You'll get a cold! There's enough space for the both of us!" called out Kinana, holding an umbrella above her head. While everyone was at least cladded in coats or carrying an umbrella, Azure seemed to be the only one with neither; welcoming the rain with open arms.

"Nope! It's so refreshing!" said Azure, smiling as she breathed in the moisture in the air while spinning around with wide arms, not caring how much drenched she got.

Everyone else might be thinking how much of a lunatic she is, enjoying the cold rain like that. Then again, anyone who knew her understood that she was like that due to being the Water Dragon Slayer. Still, they couldn't help but feel worried for her health. Even the fiercest of warriors could sick under normal conditions, like being in the rain too long.

Bisca went up to Azure while holding her daughter in one hand and the other an umbrella. "Azure? Are you sure you're alright?"

Azure nodded to the older woman. She was never anymore better than this, since her favorite days usually consist of rain. That, and chocolate chip cookies, which are her favorites. "Yup! I'm all better!"

On the other side of the stadium, Frosch was looking around the arena when he noticed an odd person dancing around in the rain. In fact, that person happened to be the happy-go-lucky girl of Fairy Tail, Azure Fullbuster.

Tugging on Rogue's arm, Frosch pointed and asked, "Rogue? What's Azure's doing?"

"Hmm?" Rogue and Sting paid attention to Fairy Tail's side, and only one happy person was insanely dancing in the rain with a wide grin on her face.

"Dude, is that Azure? Why would she be in the rain like that?" wondered Sting. Either she seemed really excited to not care about the rain, or she was just crazy.

Turning away, Rogue muttered, "It doesn't matter. If she wants to stay in the rain, that's her wish. It's really none of our concern." He says that, but he couldn't help but question Azure's way of fun, finding it quite strange.

**"Now, regardless of the weather, we will continue the games today! Today's Event will be called...Truth! Now, choose your team member!"**

"'Truth,' is it?" wondered Lyon, pondering on what sort of event today will be. "If that's the name of it, then it must be some sort of event that requires intelligence."

Jura stepped forward with confidence showed on his face. "I shall do it. I am one of the 10 Wizard Saints, so I have much more experience in the fields than any of that. Not that I'm bragging or anything."

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that," replied Yuka, thinking that decision was for the best.

"Do your best, Jura-san!" cheered Chelia happily. If it was Jura, anything was possible with the powerful Mage!

**"And from Lamia Scale's side, it's Jura Neekis!" **

While people cheered for the famous Wizard Saint, the other teams were discussing on who to choose; being extremely careful about their choices. Eventually, two more teams selected their members at the same time, as evident of the two newcomers approaching the field.

**"Sabertooth has chosen Rufus Lore, one of their toughest Mages! And on Blue Pegasus's side, it's Hibiki Lates!" **

More of the cries and screaming came from the fangirls among the audience. Two sides fought over each other; fans of Rufus and fans of Hibiki. Both Rufus and Hibiki were the smartest among their guilds, so it was going to be a tough choice on which one would triumph.

**"Oh? Quatro Cerberus has chosen Bacchus Groh to represent them! Can this drunken Mage do the job properly against these strong Mages?" **

"Go, Bacchus-san! We believe you!" called out the rest of Quatro Cerberus, waving at him. "WILD FOUR! WILD FOUR! WILD FOUR!"

"FAIRY TAIL! FAIRY TAIL! FAIRY TAIL! FAIRY TAIL!" As soon as Quatro Cerberus began chanting, Azure decided to join in, but only for her guild.

Macao was trying his best to select the right choice for Fairy Tail. Alzack had gotten better, but was still considered out of commission due to his injuries from yesterday, Max and Romeo could still participate, but he didn't know who to choose. Azure was definitely out because she participated twice, and according to the rules, nobody could be involved with another event three times. However, there was always Samuel...

**"Oh? What's this? Kagura herself has decided to take upon the challenge of 'Truth!' And that's shocking because Kagura herself rarely participates in Events! Let's see what this beauty has to offer!" **

Many Kagura fans were rooting for her as she entered the field to join the others. Despite her cold personality, others admired and respected her for her beauty, strength, skill, charisma, and somewhat kindness. She was like a cool idol to look up to.

"Let's see...there's five of us, but there's only six teams," spoke Hibiki out loud. "Huh...Who's left?"

"Who else? Team Fairy Tail, duh!" answered Bacchus rudely, rolling his eyes. And he was supposed to be the intellect member of his own team! Bacchus knew that he wasn't smart compared to all these people, but even he knew Fairy Tail had to choose someone.

"Hmm...I'm not sure if I want to go," admitted Max as he and the others were still debating on who to represent for their team. "When it comes to intelligence, I think I hardly stand a chance."

"Maybe the title is just a way to trick us," suggested Romeo, looking unsure. "But then...Hmm..."

"Ooh! I wanna go! I wanna go!" shouted Azure, raising her hand excitedly.

Macao shook his head. "No, Azure. You already participated twice, so you can't do it again a third time."

"Aww!" Spotting Samuel reading a book not too far away, Azure remembered that he was still technically a part of Team Fairy Tail. A mischevious grin slowly formed upon her face as she carefully and slowly approached Samuel, trying not to step on any puddles.

_'Samuel + smartness + Event = WE WIN!' _Was what came into Azure's mind before swiping Samuel and holding him above her head.

Startled, Samuel dropped his book and frailed his arms around. It didn't take him long to realize Azure was holding him in a position where one would throw...No...

"AZURE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Trust me, you'll thank me later! Besides, this is payback for calling me stupid all those times!"

"AZURE, DON'T YOU-OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With a much wider grin than before, Azure threw the Exceed towards the center of the arena where he would most likely crash. Samuel had to admit, sometimes, Azure truly was unpredictable, but he never anticipated this! Having no time to spread his wings, Samuel was left with only one option.

Screaming.

With a lift of his hand, Jura created a molded clay structured slide in a matter of seconds, prompting Samuel to land and slide down safely wihtout getting hurt. Once landing on the ground, Samuel took a moment to regain his breath after nearly experiencing a heart attack.

"Thank you, Jura-san," thanked Samuel, earning a nod from the Wizard Saint himself. Glaring up at Azure, Samuel shook his fist at her. "Damn you, Azure! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"You could have flown!" shouted back Azure, waving back. "Also, you're welcome!"

"I-You-I-! Gah! Why would you thinking that I would want to than-Never mind!" There was clearly no point in arguing with the same girl who endangered his life, so Samuel left it at that.

**"W-well, with an unexpected turn of events, it seems that Team Fairy Tail had chosen...a small cat named Samuel to take their place! ...Forcibly." **

"Now that we've gathered all six members, it's time to start the 'Truth' Event!" announced Mato, walking up to the six Mages while carrying a small box full of sticks. "But first, everyone must pick a stick. Each one has a number of 1 - 3. I'll explain further more once everyone grabs a stick."

A minutes after everyone did what they were told, they compared their sticks and were surprised with the results.

Rufus, Hibiki, Samuel: #1

Bacchus, Kagura, Jura: #2

A light blue spherical barrier surrounded the six members, much to their surprise. They thought that it was meant to trap them inside, until they figured out that they could easily escape by stepping out, which they did.

"Allow me to explain, please!" said Mato, holding a small, transparent cube with a dark orb in the middle of the center of it. The barrier emitting all that Magic must be coming from that tiny cube itself. "This is an A-Class Secret Treasure, a rare kind of treasure to come across and just for this special Event! Judgement Field!"

"Just what sort of event are we dealing with here?" questioned Bacchus, scratching his head.

"Well, I've heard of the Judgement Field before," admitted Hibiki. "It's...mostly harmless. Once inside of the barrier the Judgement Field creates, you can't tell a lie otherwise, you'd get penalized. You have to always tell the truth. In addition, you can't answer questions to which you don't know the answer, which would count as lying."

Mato nodded. "That's the gist of it, kabo! People with #1's! You'll be facing against # 2's! Now then, on with the rules! 'Truth' is an event, well, more like a game, where one has to guess the truth about each other."

"Guess the truth?" wondered Samuel. "Please, explain further.

"Right, kabo! Hmm...For example, if it's my turn, I'll say that you're a flying cat. If it's true, then it's your turn next."

It took less than a few seconds for Samuel to respond back. "You're wearing a pumpkin costume."

"Correct, kabo!" Mato said. "Whoever guesses wrong first loses and they're out of the Event. The winner proceeds to the next round of the game until there's only one left. Another rule is that there can't be something that applies to both people. Like...You have eyes. But I also have eyes. If we went like there, then there'd be no end to this game."

The others slowly began to underestand the concept of the game. So that's why it was labled as 'Truth,' since one has to literally tell the truth or lose. And with that last additional rule, their options were very limited.

"Oh, and another thing, kabo! Each guess can only be used once! Another rule is that you can only do one guess about a person's physical appearance."

Everyone who thought of using the 'physical appearance guess' strategy felt their spirits downed for a moment. Oh, guess that was out of the picture. Still, they could only do one guess about appearance, so they were alright.

"Now then, two teams will pick one member. Like, the team with #1's will pick one and the team with #2's will also choose one. Every time you get a statement correct, your guild gain one 1! Begin, kabo!"

"Man! I'm so confused!" cried out Azure, shaking her head back and forth. "I'm so glad I didn't participate!"

"You couldn't anyways, even if you wanted to!" reminded Jet and Droy, annoyed.

Alzack placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling down at her. "It's okay, Azure. This Event is confusing to me, too. But maybe we as watch, we'll get to understand better."

"I'll go first," offered Hibiki, earning many woos and cheers from his fangirls as he stepped inside the Judgement Field. Without the approval of her temporary team, Kagura silently stepped in.

**"Hibiki Lates vs Kagura Mikazuchi in a battle of intelligence! Who'll win?"**

"...You may go first," offered Kagura, crossing her arms without a care in the world.

Hibiki smirked confidently before nodding, trying to come up with a good question. Compared to himself and Kagura, Hibiki thought he was smarter and was determined to win the entire Event using his mind.

"Well, first off, you are a woman."

"That is correct."

**"And Team Blue Pegasus gains 1 Point!" **

**Team Blue Pegasus: +1**

**Team Mermaid Heel: 0**

As Kagura pondered on what to ask of Hibiki, Mato took out a notepad and began writing down points in order to catch up to the competition so that everyone gets their own fair amount of points.

"Alright," said Kagura, having thought up of a good question. "You are...a womanizer."

"Gah?!" Clearly, Hibiki hadn't been expecting that and wanted to protest, but recalled the previous rules. No matter how insulting the question may be, he _must _tell the truth. "Y-you're right..." His shoulders slumped as he tone took to a whimpering tone.

**Team Blue Pegasus: +1**

**Team Mermaid Heel: +1**

Determined to get at least a little bit of payback, Hibiki stared into Kagura's eyes and said, "You are a swordsman!"

"Wrong."

"EEEHHHH?! BUT HOW?!" asked Hibiki, wondering why his answer was wrong.

Pushing her hair out of the way with a flick of her wrist, Kagura calmly answered, "You said that I'm a swordsman. A swordsman is referred to as a male wielder of the sword. However, you should have used the proper term, 'swordswoman,' because I am female. Now, you've lost."

Before Hibiki could protest, an unknown gravitational force lifted him up in the air before tossing him out of the Judgement Field. Since nobody used Magic, it was safe to assume that it was Judgement's Field's Magic coming from the rules.

**"Kagura Mikazuchi is the winner!" **

"That's just sad," sighed Ren, shaking his head in disbelief. "Still, at least Hibiki tried his best."

"Hmph. If that's all, then this'll end quicker than I anticipated," said Rufus, stepping inside the Judgement Field the same time Bacchus did.

Upon realizing that his opponent was an intelligent person like Rufus, Bacchus raised his hand. "Uh...Can I switch?"

"Nope! No take backs! Your current opponent is Rufus Lores, kabo!" announced Mato, shaking his head. "Don't worry! Just do the best you can!"

Rufus didn't seem too worried on who his opponent would be. "I can't blame for you for backing away. No one has ever defeated me in a skill of intelligence before. Now then, since you are incapable and weak, I shall let you take the first turn."

"Fine!" Scrutching up his face, Bacchus struggled hard to think upon a good answer. "...You're a book lover!"

Shrugging his shoulders casually, Rufus wasn't impressed. "Anyone could figure that one out, but you're right."

"YES!"

**Team Quatro Cerberus: +1**

**Team Sabertooth: 0**

"Now, it's my turn," said Rufus. "You drink a lot, judging from the alcoholic smell coming from your nasty mouth."

"Hey! I may drink a lot, but my mouth isn't nasty, damnit!"

**Team Quatro Cerberus: +1**

**Team Sabertooth: +1 **

"Remember, it's my turn!" Bacchus said, glaring at Rufus. "Hmm..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...JUST SAY SOMETHING ALREADY!" yelled Azure at the top of her lungs before being pulled back by members of her guild. Other than her yelling, the splattering of rain was all anyone could hear at the moment.

Snapping out of his trance, Bacchus came up with the only thing he could think of. "Fine! Rufus, you're wearing a hat!"

"My, out of ideas already? You must be desperate if you're willing to rely on physical appearances now," taunted Rufus, smirking.

"Just shut up! It's your turn!"

**Team Quatro Cerberus: +2**

**Team Sabertooth: +1 **

"Very well. Though, I doubt you'll be knowing my next statement." Taking a deep breath and exhaling it, Rufus spoke calmly, "You are quite...inconceivable."

"...Eh?"

"Like I said, you are quite inconceivable."

"Um...No?"

Before anyone could blink, the Judgement Field already forced Bacchus out and into the rain like the other participants just as Hibiki did. Rufus stepped out on his own as well, waiting for the next round to be over and done with.

**"Rufus Lores is the winner!"**

"Wait! Why did I lose?!" demanded Bacchus, slamming his fist onto the ground uselessly.

Mato spoke up loudly for everyone to hear. "If I could have your attention, please, kabo? The rules stated that you can't answer questions you don't know of. So, technically, you were sorta lying."

"But that's bullshit! I call a rematch, NOW!"

"No can do! Only one per person, kabo! Now, only the last match remains, and I believe it's Samuel from Team Fairy Tail vs Jura of Lamia Scale! Do your best, the both of you!"

Seeing how they were the last ones left, only one of them would make it through the Event, Truth. Both Samuel and Jura nodded to each other out of respect before entering inside Judgement Field.

"Just because you saved me back there from my idiotic sister, doesn't mean that I'll go easy on you," replied Samuel, glancing up at the taller man.

Jura nodded, understanding the mutual feeling of not holding back. Although, he was confused on the 'sister' part. Samuel was, no doubt, an Exceed, therefore, not human. The only person who had thrown him across halfway the field was Azure, a human. So, how was it possible...?

"Jura-san?" called out Samuel. "I'll let you go first since you did save me. I don't like keeping unpaid debts."

"Very well. You are an Exceed."

"That is correct."

**Team Lamia Scale: +1**

**Team Fairy Tail: 0 **

"I can automatically assume that you're one of the Ten Wizard Saints, Jura-san."

"Yes, that's right."

**Team Lamia Scale: +1**

**Team Fairy Tail: +1 **  
"You can fly by spreading your wings and taking off."

"That's correct."

**Team Lamia Scale: +2**

**Team Fairy Tail: +1 **

"That's right, Samuel."

**Team Lamia Scale: +2**

**Team Fairy Tail: +2**

Over and over, the two of them continued to get good results in their end. Both kept guessing the truth about each other, going back and forth. There seemed to be no end to it, making this the longest round ever. Having researched Jura, Samuel knew a lot of things about him and compared things about him that the Exceed himself didn't have. Jura had once researched Exceeds out of interest and found out differences that Exceeds had that humans didn't.

**Team Lamia Scale: +8**

**Team Fairy Tail: +9 **

"I believe that it's my turn now," reminded Jura, growing out of ideas. He didn't want to have to rely on the one-time physical appearance guess, but then he remembered something Samuel had mentioned before the game started. "Azure...is your adoptive sister."

Samuel's eyes widen before nodding. "That's...correct. But, how did you know?"

"It was thanks to you, Samuel. Before the match began, you mentioned that you were thrown by an 'idiotic sister.' The only person who had thrown you was Azure, so I assumed both of you must be related not by blood, but of relationships."

"Wow, looks like the rumors were indeed true about the Ten Wizard Saints," admitted Samuel. "They truly are one of the sharpest minds in the world."

**Team Lamia Scale: +9**

**Team Fairy Tail: +9 **

With each passing round, Samuel knew he was running out of positive things to say to Jura. No, in fact, he didn't know what else to say to Jura, and it was his turn next! Maybe...he should say something that he doesn't like and see if Jura likes it.

"Jura-san...You like natto."

Frowning, Jura shook his head. "No. Despite not being a picky eater, I...greatly dislike natto. But you don't like natto either, judging from the shocked expression on your face."

Samuel didn't even noticed his wide jaw open until he closed it himself. Once he's done so, Judgement Field flung him out to join the others as a beeping sound was heard.

**"And Jura Neekis is the winner! He receives Points much higher than the other competitors! Now, onto Round 2 with the remaining winners of Round 1!" **

"Booo!"

"Go into the fights already!"

"We're tired of this bullshit!"

"Hurry up!"

Apparently, the audience found the Event to be quite lacking in many ways as well as boring. Truth be told, even the competitors themselves found the Event to be too...logical. They didn't mind that it involved intelligence, but even they had their limits of how fun was supposed to be defined. In the meantime, the audience's protests grew louder than the rain, plus they were using megaphones as well to enhance the volume of their voices.

The judges glanced at one another, pondering on what to do. The Event, Truth, was supposed to have three Rounds. The first part was finished, and they were ready to commence Round 2, which involved two out of the three winners from the previous Round to face off against each other. Then, Round 3 would have the last two competitors playing the game until one of them won.

**"Uh, attention, folks! There's been a change in the rules! We decided to end the Event, but we'll leave the last three winners with 5 extra Points! Now then, let's survey the results and then get to the matches for the day!"**

**Sabertooth: (+6) (Currently: 52 Points)**

**Lamia Scale: (+14) (Currently: 38 Points)**

**Mermaid Heel: (+6) (Currently: 32 Points)**

**Quatro Cerberus: (+2) (Currently: 31 Points)**

**Fairy Tail: (+9) (Currently:20 Points)**

**Blue Pegasus: (+1) (Currently: 19 Points)**

"Blue Pegasus is in last place?!" exclaimed Jenny before fiercely glaring at her teammates. "Guys! We must reclaim our spot as one of the top guilds again!"

"MEN!" exclaimed Ichiya, posing with sparkles glittering all over him. "Whenever a lady requests something, you must do so! That...is the ultimate role of men!"

"Yes, Master!' shouted Ren and Eve before noticing their distaught team member, Hibiki, walking towards them with animated tears flowing down his face. He immediantly cheered up when Jenny pecked his lips as a job well-done...which soon ended up as a makeout session.

"Yay! We're not in last place anymore! I knew Samuel could do it!" cheered Azure, grinning as Samuel started walking back towards his teammates.

"You knew? You threw him there in the first place without thinking!" reminded Romeo, annoyed at the girl.

"Eh, it worked out in the end!"

"...Azure?" called out Samuel, having reunited with Team Fairy Tail.

"Yes, Sammy?"

"...You're forbidden for eating cookies for a month. Kinana?"

The indigo-colored woman nodded before confronting Azure with a firm look. "Yup. No cookies for a month, Azure."

"NOOOOO! NOT EVEN YOUR BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?!"

"Nope."

"Noooo! I should have thrown Romeo in there!"

"Wait, what?! Why are you involving me?!"

* * *

**"Now, we are ready to begin the upcoming matches, which have been chosen in random! This time, the matches the 4th Day has to provide will be different! They will involve...Tag Team Battles!" **

The crowd roared out of excitement as many thoughts echoed repeatedly throughout their minds. Just what sort of Tag Teams will there be?! There was a number of possibilities for each battle, considering that the selection was completely random.

**"First match...Team Blue Pegasus's Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki and Ren Akatsuki vs Team Lamia Scale's Yuka Suzuki and Toby Horhorta!" **

"Alright! Let's do this!" hollered Toby, getting too overconfident in their supposed victory.

Yuka, having learned through experiences about confidence, pointed out, "Don't get so cocky. Ichiya isn't so much of a threat, I'll admit, but Ren might be a problem. Let's take him out first."

"YOSH! HE WILL NEVER EXPECT MY PARALYSIS CLAWS OF POISON!"

Unfortunately for him, Toby's declaration echoed throughout the entire stadium, causing everyone to grow silent. Apparently, Toby was well-known for being the most loudest, as well as idiotic member of Lamia Scale. It didn't even take a Dragon Slayer to hear him. How Lamia Scale managed toendure him for more than 6 years is a mystery beyong anyone's imagination.

"...Toby, you goddamn idiot."

"He's got claws that can shock and poison the enemy?! COOOL!" gasped Azure.

Samuel sweatdropped at his partner's childish antics. "Azure...Do you not remember about our mission teaming up with Lyon and Toby?"

"Kinda! All I remember is, we fought some Monster, they helped us, and one of them used Ice-Make Magic!"

"...Well, that solves one problem on Toby's fighting style," said Ren, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he prepared to stand against the opponent.

"Men! We must win for the glorious foundation of our guild! Therefore, let us show them the beauty of our fighting skills!" Ichiya said, trying to encourage his battle partner.

"Yes, Master!"

While walking towards the battlefield, Yuka tried notifying his partner of what was to come. "Alright, Toby. Plain and simple. You attack Ichiya while I try taking out Ren, okay?"

"Yeah! Got it!"

"And NO telling them! Got it?"

'Got it!"

"Alright, what did I just say, Toby?"

"Uh...No telling them?"

"Good."

"So, you're supposed to be Mages of Lamia Scale?" called out Ren. "Hope you'll give us a good fight!"

"Men! That's exactly what I was thinking!" said Ichiya, posing as usual.

"Oh, we'll give you a good fight, alright!" Toby told the two of them. "In fact, I'm not allowed to say that I'll attack Ichiya and my partner will take out Ren!"

Yuka facepalmed as he groaned. "Yup. Should have seen that coming."

"Wow, that guy's dumber than Azure. And that's saying A LOT," commented Romeo, understanding that Yuka was annoyed just as he was to Azure.

"Aw, thanks, Rome-Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

**"3...2...1...Let the match begin!" **

"I'M TAKING THE FIRST MOVE! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Roaring like Tarzan, Toby launched himself towards Ren and Ichiya, determined to take them out at the same time.

"Ichiya-san! Let me handle this!" said Ren, stepping in front of his respected, elderly team member. "Aerial!" Pressing his palm forward, a dome ranged from Yuka's current location to a few meters in front of Toby. Toby's charge came to a halt as both he and Yuka struggled to breath and cover the painful screeching in their ears.

"Gah! Can't breath..." A few seconds later, Toby passed out from lack of oxygen, but if he remained in the Magic-like dome too long, then it would be...bad on his situation.

Not willing to give up, Yuka mustered up with all of his willpower the power to use his Wave Magic, which proved successfuly in the end when his Wave Magic burst the Aerial Spell apart.

"What the-?! He broke through my Spell with his own Magic?!" exclaimed Ren before jumping back for some cover.

"TAKE THIS!" Although still trying to regain his breath, Yuka unleashed a volley of Wave projectiles at Ichiya, who couldn't avoid them due to the amazing speed they possessed. Due to being stressed from near suffocation, the Wave Magic seemed more more powerful than their usual Magical Might, thus increasing Yuka's Magic Power.

Ichiya hasn't anticipated how strong Yuka's special kind of Magic would be, therefore, he was quickly knocked out once faced with the full force of his blasts. It was a shame, since Ichiya wasn't even given a chance to fight back properly.

**"Ooh! And Ichiya is out for the count! Now, it's a one-on-one battle between Yuka and Ren! Who will win?!" **

Judging from the screaming fans and the huge popularity Blue Pegasus possessed, it was safely assumed that most of the fans were crying out for Ren's victory. Ren smirked, feeling a lot better due to the large amount of support from his fans.

He noticed that Yuka's Magic must be based on nullification for Magic. Just because it can nullify Magic doesn't make the Caster invincible, though, so Ren still has a chance of victory. Yuka seemed to be focused on long-ranged attacks as well as deep concentration, which meant that he must not be a very good close combatant. Good, since close combat was Ren's second forte.

Ren charged in, throwing shots of air towards Yuka while running at his top speed. Not anticipating how fast Ren could go, Yuka was taken aback and struggled to block all of his Air Magic before trying to counterattack. However, before he had a chance to strike, Ren completed his distraction strategy before wrapping his forearm around Yuka's neck; his other arm gripping one of Yuka's arms behind his back.

**"Ren's got Yuka in a tight choke hold! Who'll win victory now? Ren, or Yuka?!" **

In normal conditions, Yuka would have escaped this sort of situation using his Wave Magic to place a barrier around himself and block out the enemy. However, seeing how he nearly passed out of lack of air due to the Aerial Spell, and how he didn't even have time to recover his breath, Yuka's blood ciruclation from his head to the rest of his body were blocked out from the choke hold, and he found it harder to focus on his Magic.

"Damn...it..." croaked Yuka before his body fell limp; his breath lost the same time as his consciousness did. Pressing a finger to Yuka's neck, Ren sighed in relief, having confirmed that Yuka was still alive, though out of breath.

**"And the winners are Ren Akatsuki and Ichiya ****Vandalay Kotobuki from Blue Pegasus! 10 Points to them!" **

"Yes! They did it!" cheered Sherry, amazed at Ren's flawless victory. Oh, tonight he was definitely gonna get more than a kiss from her...

"Man, the match ups were terrible," sighed Lyon, shaking his head. "Both did...a decent job, but I think it would have been better if I was in there."

"No, maybe I would have been the better choice," replied Jura. "I could use some warm up from youngesters like them."

"But...You're a Wizard Saint, Jura-san," pointed out Chelia. "I think that'd be overkill."

"Hmm...Fair enough."

* * *

**"Up next is Team Quatro Cerberus' Nobarly and Semmes vs Team Mermaid Heel's Millianna and Risley Law!"**

"Hello, boys!~" purred Millianna, leaning over and giving the two male Mages a seductive gaze before winking at them with a giggle. Immediantly, the two of them stood up straight with blushes printed all over their faces as they tried not to stare at her...assets.

Risley facepalmed before pulling Millianna back. "Come now, don't try using your charms to seduce them. Last time you did, that ended up...distrastrous."

"Oh, come on, Risley-chan!~ How was I supposed to know that that guy wasn't into women?!"

"Uh...Can we just get the match on, already?!" demanded Nobarly, covering his ears. Nope, nope! He was not hearing this! He just wanted to beat these women and leave! Why did he, out of all people, had to be selected?! Granted, he was good, but he could tell that Semmes was stronger than him and could take on these girls.

**"3...2...1..BEGIN!" **

"Wild Spin!" Stretching his arms wide, Semmes started rotating over and over until he was nothing more than a spinning top that was currently out of control. He made his way towards Millianna and Risley, who had no defensive mechanism that could stand up against a beast like him.

But not Magic.

"Risley-chan?"

"Done." Extending her arm forward, a purple-colored Magic Circle appeared in the front of her palm. No less than 3 seconds did Semmes collapse to the ground, barely able to move as part of his face was now buried underneath the sand.

"So, Nobarly, was it?" **LASH! **Licking her lips, Millianna whipped at the ground with her whip-like Magic. No signs of mercy was found deep within her eyes, only pleasure and a sadistic sense of joy. "What will you do?"

"Eep! I-I surrender!' Raising his arms wide to the sky, Nobarly declared his surrender out for everyone to hear.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

**"T-through an..._uncomfortable _twist of events, it seems Team Mermaid Heel has won 10 Points!" **

_'Wow, she's good,' _almost all males from Fairy Tail thought, trying to get a grip on reality. Even they fell for Millianna, and she didn't even need to try that hard!

"Hey, guys? A thought occurs," spoke Warren, looking puzzled as both respected teams exited the battlefield. "Since all teams but ours went, who are we supposed to fight next?"

"Let me see..." said Macao, trying to recall the past matches. "At first, it was Blue Pegasus that went up against Lamia Scale, which the former won. Then, we just saw Mermaid Heel easily take down Quatro Cerberus. There were six guilds, and four of them already left. We're left with...Oh no..."

**"Now, it's the final match for the day! Team Fairy Tail's Azure Fullbuster and Samuel vs Team Sabertooth's Twin Dragons, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney!"**

* * *

**Yeah, the Truth Event was pretty lame, but I couldn't come up with any other intelligent Events. Plus, that game came from the Mavis special from Fairy Tail Zero, when Mavis vs Yuri. And how they got the Judgement Field treasure, well, it's been so many years so Yuri must have sold the object or the Magic Council got a hold of such treasure.**

**Risley's Magic focuses on Gravity Change Magic, so if she can alter her gravity, why not another individual's? I hope I made the fights fair and such.**

**And you heard the announcer? Next chapter is my favorite, and the fight you've been waiting for! Read and review cause it will be somewhat long!**


	20. Day 4 Battle: Sabertooth vs Fairy Tail

**Hehehehe...The moment you've all been waiting for! The time has come...FOR THIS!**

**Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Fairy Tail, only the OCs!**

* * *

**"Now, it's the final match for the day! Team Fairy Tail's Azure Fullbuster and Samuel vs Team Sabertooth's Twin Dragons, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney!" **

"YES! FINALLY!" shouted Azure, standing up straight with her arms in the air. "I'm finally having a fight with Rogue and the blind bimbo!"

For once, Samuel had to admit, this was a good idea. Nobody else in their guild could match up to the Twin Dragons' power except for Azure, and if she happened to be partnered up with him, their chances of fighting increased, even if a little. They've been together for a very long time, so they knew each others movements in battle and could sync together.

"Alright, a battle!" said Sting, stretching his arms out and wide as he and Rogue stepped down the stairs to enter onto the battlefield. "Oh, and Rogue? Word of advise: That Azure girl's super fast. Like, seriously fast."

"...I'll keep that in mind."

The four Mages confronted one another once they had stepped down onto the open field. No obstacles in their way; it was a simple, deserted and wide area that was perfect for any training grounds. But this wasn't training. This was real-life fighting four the four of them who were about to fight for their guilds.

"Azure-chan! Samuel! You can do it! Just believe in yourself!" called out Eve along with his team. Not only were they the only team rooting for Azure and Samuel's victory, but some members from other guilds encouraged them as well, such as Millianna from Mermaid Heel, or Lyon and Toby from Lamia Scale.

"Go, Azure! Go, Samuel!" cheered some of her Fairy Tail members. They desperately wanted their two strongest members to win not only for the glory of Fairy Tail, but also to see Sabertooth wiped out for once.

"Ok! We'll do our best to kick their asses, guys! Don't you worry!" promised Azure, waving back with both arms as she smiled to the crowd. She laughed childishly with so much joy shown in her eyes as Samuel also waved back. Sure he's not used to being cheered on, but he wanted to at least wave back to show his appreciation.

Waiting for the official announcement to start the match, Rogue couldn't help but notice the child-like attitude Azure possessed. Unlike his guild members, he doesn't have in him the vibes to become cruel and heartless towards others. He didn't feel bad, but he knew he was going to have to beat this young girl and her partner in order for his guild to win. Hopefully, Sting won't rough them up too much.

"Okay, Azure. Just remember, Sting controls White Dragon Slayer Magic, which is like Light Magic, but more advanced, " Samuel explained. "Rogue has Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic, which lets him control shadows. You just take on Rogue since you're faster, and I'll take on Sting. It'll be hard, but I might manage a few minutes against him."

"Mmm!" Azure nodded to him before turning to face her two Dragon Slayer opponents with a smile. "You guys better not hold back against me! I'm really tough! Oh, and so is Samuel!"

"Yeah, we'll just see. You won't even last one minute against me," spoke Sting cockily as he cracked his knuckles; the sound purposely being loud in an attempt to scare off his opponent.

Azure wasn't fazed one bit before unsheathing her sword and placing it in front of her at her waist. Like Samuel instructed her before, always breath in and out before a serious battle. It didn't take a genius to figure that this fight was indeed going to be tougher than any battle she's come across, so she began breathing in and out until the match would begin.

Thinking that he might need to tell Azure now of all times, Samuel looked up at her. "One more thing, Azure. Go at a high speed pace, but conserve your energy unless necessary, got it?"

"I can go super fast?"

"Well...anything to separate those two, alright?"

"Gotcha covered!"

Frowning, Millianna examined the situation before her. Azure and her cute little cat friend were about to face off against the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth, who were said to be toughest when together. Hopefully, Azure's Magic, although unknown, can help her out and-

Screw it; Azure and Samuel are gonna get beat out there.

"I feel so bad for them," murmured Millianna outloud. "Azure and Samuel don't stand a chance against them!"

"...Don't underestimate beings so little as those Fairy Tail Wizards," Kagura lightly scolded. "Appearances don't mean anything when faced in battle. Besides, I have a feeling that something...interesting will come up in the fight."

Realizing how cold his fur must be, Samuel nearly forgotten about the rain until now. Good, this sort of weather was perfect for the upcoming battle both he and Azure were about to face.

On rainy days, it usually symbolized sadness or the fact that plants needed water to grow and such. But this wasn't the case one bit. Water is Azure's element, so this gave his partner the home field advantage. Even better, Sting and Rogue have no clue that Azure herself is a Dragon Slayer, so they have the element of surprise in their hands.

**"Now that the four competitors are here, it's time to begin the match in 3...2...1...BEGIN!" **

The first to make a move was Azure herself, who backflipped a few times until she crotched down to a kneeling position, much to everyone but Samuel's confusion. Knowing what Azure was about to pull off, Samuel walked out of the way as Azure adjusted her breathing; her eyes narrowing to slits out of pure concentration.

Once she forcibly kicked off the ground, nobody expected the sort of tremendous speed demonstrated before them. Shooting forward like an arrow, Azure eyed at the target she was aiming for with her sword arm extended; Rogue.

Terror filled the Shadow Dragon Slayer's body as he was forcibly left to face the lightning fast abomination before him. Gritting his teeth and twisting his body as fast as he could, Rogue's arm was covered into shadows which divides into numerous thin tendrils. Seeing Azure closing in, he thrusted his arm forward, hoping to block and counter attack with the hardened shadow-like tendrils. Shadows can't normally be harmed due to their tangibility, but in order for the shadows to harm another, they must harden.

The shadow-like tendrils pushed her blade aside; sparks appearing along with a metallic noise. Azure widened her eyes in shock; the most emotion Rogue has gotten out of her ever since the fight started. Regaining herself, Azure refused to quit as she slashed and hacked away at Rogue's newfound defense.

Allowing instinct to take over, Azure parries each slash and strike with her blade. A furious, whirling dance of clashes was the best way to describe this confrontation. Upon analyzing the very movement, speed, and strength each slash possessed, Azure compensates with her speed. Out of the four of them on the field, her physical strength is the lowest, but her speed, nimbleness, and agility far surpasses anyone right at the moment.

Instead of thinking, Rogue's own instincts did the thinking for him as he continued to take the offensive and defend when needed. If one of his tendrils lacked the strength to take her down, he'll simply have to focus on strengthening it. However, when it comes to speed, Azure is the one with the huge advantage. No matter how much strength he places, Azure will always find measures to dodge and parry.

There. For a brief second, Rogue was left with a wide opening for Azure to take in. She slashed upwards, and although her blow didn't strike blood from him, it was enough to flip him over.

Knowing she can't finish him there and then, considering how tough he is, Azure backflipped several times to gain distance and bent down on one knee, having finished her backflip performance. Both her and Rogue stood up at the same time, facing one another as they took a fighting stance.

Meanwhile, Samuel was successful in blocking off any paths and was still currently distracting Sting. Once transformed into his Battle Form, no doubt surprising Sting, he flew towards him and engaged in close combat.

From the very start, Samuel knew that he couldn't beat Sting even in a one-on-one battle. But, that fact alone doesn't make the Dragon Slayer invincible. Samuel could still deal a couple of blows here and there, enough to distract Sting. If Azure was forced to face off against two Dragon Slayers by herself, she'd be overwhelmed in no time. Given from experience in combat, Samuel knew Azure too well.

_'Damn, he is tough!' _thought Sting as he engaged blows with Samuel. _'But...not as tough as me! Time to get my A-game on!' _

Fists blazing with a white flame-like aura, Sting soon began his counterattack against Samuel, slamming his body multiple times and inflicting damage with each blow he delivered. Samuel knew he had to stay strong as he tried to fight back, only for his attacks to be blocked or dodged by a smirking Dragon Slayer.

Crossing his arms in front of him as a defensive manuever, Samuel's eyes caught something amidst Azure's current fight. He grunted as he continued to endure blows from Sting while glancing back and forth at Rogue's movements and fighting style.

**CLASH! SLASH! WHOOSH! ZOOM! CLINK! CLACK! CLASH!**

Azure, leaping and rushing at great speeds, was striking at her current opponent from all possible directions. However, Rogue is putting up quite a good fight as well, shooting shadow-like blasts that would easily take out an average Mage with one blow. Some of the blasts manage to scrape through her defenses, while most were dodged by the lightning-quick girl. Though she may be fast, she cannot penetrate through Rogue's guard, as he stands firmly still while blocking her strikes and counterattacking at the same time.

No matter how quickly Azure leaps to attack any blind spots, the shadow formed underneath the Shadow Dragon Slayer's feet would stretch and manifest as a second shield; deflecting her slashes with a single swing.

The Fairy Tail Mage knows full well that she can't beat Rogue in a physical assault no matter how fast she goes. As long as Rogue controls the shadows, including his own, she can't even lay a single cut on him. The only reason she's able to repel his attacks and continuously strike at him is due to her speed that's been developed throughout years of training and experience. But the more she attacks, the more her speed decreases little by little. In order to win, she needs to save up as much energy as she can.

Using the power of the shadows, Rogue is using more Magic Power than he intended to use this match. He thought of using very little Magic Power to win against Team Fairy Tail, but apparently, he underestimated the speed the little girl had. It was just as Sting said, she was indeed fast and nimble on her feet. Even more so, she hasn't used any sort of Magic ever since this fight began.

The crowd was left speechless after witnessing the first two minutes of the fight. Sting didn't have any trouble dealing with his opponent, as seen when he was obviously toying around with Samuel. However, Azure and Rogue almost seemed like on equal terms with each other in close combat, but then again, it was hard to tell with all the rain and the speed they were going through.

"Amazing...I never knew both Azure and her partner were this strong," complimented Chelia, trying to catch up to the fast pace Azure had.

"No...There's still more," spoke Jura, frowning. "Sting and Rogue are analyzing their opponents, trying to see how strong they are. They haven't even begun to unleash their power yet."

"White Dragon's-!"

"Oh no-! Crap!" cursed Samuel, leaping back to stand his ground and attempt to dodge whatever Magic Sting had in store. No matter what, Sting's Magic is very destructive and could knock him out if he isn't careful!

"ROAR!" A laser-like blast of light fired from upon Sting's mouth, aiming directly towards Samuel like an arrow shot from a bow. Spreading his wings, Samuel took off into the skies, dodging Sting's Spell. No matter what the situation, once an arrow has been shot, it cannot change directions under normal circumstances.

Or, can it?

Bending on all fours, Sting slightly moved his head a little, but that was enough to alter the trajectory of the laser. It changed from a forward path...upwards to where Samuel was.

"WHAT THE-?!"

**BOOM! **Not expecting the sudden change of the Magic's power, Samuel was delivered a full blast of the power before crashing down to the ground. Gritting his teeth, Samuel struggled to get back up from the crater he made, knowing this cannot be the limits of his body. Besides, who's going to help Azure when she's in a 2-1 fight? Opponents that Dragon Slayers, no less!

"You know, I wouldn't blame ya if you just stayed down! A lot easier than to be sent to the hospital later!" called out Sting, his hands on his hips. "But, you're not gonna listen to me, are ya?"

Ignoring him, Samuel knew that now might be a good time to switch strategies. Now that he's gotten a taste of Sting's power, he knew that if he kept fighting him, in less than a minute, he'll be out of the fight. Therefore...

"Azure!" the Exceed called. "Switch!"

The Water Dragon Slayer, who was fully prepared to unleash another of her swift assaults, ceased fire and nodded before stepping away from Rogue. She turned and charged towards the area where Sting was. She leaped off the ground with her sword near her wiast. Soaring like an eagle swooping downwards, she raised her sword above her head before attempting to land a devastating slash down on him.

**BOOM! **Infusing his arms with his own Light Dragon Slayer Magic, Sting nullifies and blocks her slash coming from above with ease. It was thanks the defense his Magic provided that his arms weren't mince meat now. However, the shockwave of Azure's attack caused everyone but the fighters to flinch as a booming sound occured.

Azure launches herself off before landing at a far distance from Sting, glaring at him with her cold eyes. She readies her weapon before dashing forward and slashing at him, which he dodges the attempt. Seeing how that failed, Azure tried an aerial attack, which he blocked with ease.

Flying in mid-air, Samuel's claws increased in length before firing purple lasers down at Rogue. Although he can't fly, Rogue knows when to evade the lasers coming down towards him. Samuel was an easier opponent to deal with than Azure.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Gathering shadows and gulping them into his mouth, Rogue exhaled everything into a large tornado-like blast of shadows that zoomed towards Samuel.

While his attacks can't accurately hit Rogue, Samuel can also dodge just like Rogue can. Therefore, he flew higher into the cloudy skies, avoiding the Dragon Slayer's Roar since it was out of range. Normally, Samuel's a patient person, but when it comes down to battle, he just wants to get the task done and over with, so with his attacks constantly missing, it was starting to frustrate him a little.

Rogue knew he could always just jump up and use his Dragon Slayer Magic, but his instincts told him that wouldn't work; as Samuel would simply fly out of the way. He needed to find some way to bring that Exceed down to the ground.

Although not well-known, Exceeds rely on Magic just as all Mages do. However, every Mage's Magic Power depletes eventually, and Samuel must be using a significant amount of Magic in order to keep his Battle Form on, as well as fly. Rogye knew that when the time was right, Samuel has to come down one way or another.

"You're good, I'll admit that," said Sting, grinning mischeviously at Azure, who pointed her sword at him despite the distance between the two. "But can you handle this?" Light gathered and formed in front of his mouth; another one of his Spell incoming. "White Dragon's Roar!"

The moment the laser-like blast shattered through the sound barrier and sped towards Azure, she lowered her sword arm and threw her head back, absorbing the raindrops as she prepared to counter the Roar.

"Water Dragon's Roar!"

The orb of water hovering in front of her mouth shined slightly before bursting into a large pillar of water. Both the pillar of water and the laser-like blast clashed against each other, trying to triumph on another to gain onto the other caster. However, Azure's Water Dragon Roar overwhelmed Sting's White Dragon's Roar due to its power strengthen by the rain; slamming Sting against the wall from the water.

"What?!" exclaimed Rogue and Sting; their eyes widen out of shock over the knowledge that their opponent happens to be a Dragon Slayer. Something was off about Azure the first they met, they knew that, but they never expected to encounter a Dragon Slayer.

Murmurs coursed throughout the stadium as the spectators paid closer attention to Azure, now that her Type of rare Magic was revealed. Two Dragon Slayers vs another? Granted, the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth could easily overpower a small girl such as Azure, but since her partner is distracting one of them, it was now one Dragon Slayer against another Dragon Slayer.

For a brief second, Rogue considered helping out his partner, Sting, when he stopped. Despite the reckless behavior Sting tends to portray, he knew that the White Dragon Slayer is a capable fighter and can handle himself. Besides, he had his own opponent to handle with; Samuel.

"Heh, I'm surprised," admitted Sting, standing straight as he cracked his knuckles. "Didn't take ya to be a Dragon Slayer."

"..."

"What, no remarks or nothing?"

"..."

"...Fine. Guess we're done talking, then-!" With that said, Sting rushed forward with his fingertips glowing with light. Responding back, Azure raised her weapon defensively as water droplets gathered around her.

"Water Dragon Slayer's Shield!"

"White Dragon's Talons!"

Swinging his arms downwards in a claw-like formation, Sting attempted to strike at Azure, only for his attack to be deflected by a water-like forcefield. Gritting his teeth, Sting continuously struck at the barrier, succeeding in cracking it before the cracks were fixed by the gentle touches of raindrops.

"Damn it!" cursed Sting, determined to break through no matter what. He knew that the rain was responsible for increasing Azure's Magic Power since she is the Water Dragon Slayer. Honestly, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what sort of power she possessed with that sort of name.

Right at that moment, Azure's eyes widen; the forcefield disappearing while at the same time, she swiftly deflected his latest strike with her sword before knocking him back with a slash. While he stumbled back for a second, she leaped off the ground and flipped over him, slashing at his shoulder before landing behind him.

"White Dragon's Slasher!" Spinning around, Sting viciously tried swiping at her with a slashing kick. Azure acrobatically lowers her body underneath the kick, dodging it with ease and backflipping out of range.

She leaps onto the wall before using it to ricochet herself towards Sting with the sword tip pointing straight towards him; intent on stabbing him. Water wrapped around her sword as she focused on her one true opponent.

"Water Dragon's Jigsaw Horn!"

Crying out, Azure jabbed her blade's tip at Sting, but the White Dragon Slayer stepsided out of the way, barely getting a scratch. As she was momentarily mid-air, he easily intercepted her with a kick to the side, sending her flying to a couple meters apart from the both of them.

"Azure!" cried out Bisca, watching the young girl tumbling around the dirt after being hit.

"Come on! You can do it!" shouted Jet.

Pulling herself together, Azure stretches her arms at her sides; water coating her arms until they were nothing more than liquid resembling tentacles. "Water Dragon's Tail Whip!" Jumping in the aier, Azure brought down the tail-like whips and lashed them towards Sting, who jumped back and dodged.

Over and over, Azure continued to lash out at Sting, who dodged, ducked, jumped, and somersaulted many times to dodge her attempts of hitting him. Sting found an opening to escape, quickly taking it before gulping up air into his mouth, preparing to launch another one of his Spells directly at Azure. Azure pulled back and placed her hands in front of her, gathering Magic Power.

"White Dragon's Holy Breath!"

"Water Dragon's Typhoon!"

A larger quality of light was released in the form of a huge blast from Sting; the Spell being even greater and stronger than White Dragon's Roar itself. A circular torrent of water plundered out towards the light; both elements colliding with each other, bent on surpassing the other.

Under normal conditions, White Dragon's Holy Breath wouldn't take long to bypass Water Dragon's Typhoon due to the overwhelming power it contained within the Spell. However, the rainy environment changed the outcome of the clash, strengthening the Water Spell to the point where it was equally matched with the rival Spell.

**BOOM! **The destruction between the two Spells didn't harm anyone, but blocked each other out and caused dust clouds to spring in the area where Sting and Azure were fighting.

Sting panted, taking in some of the raindrops from the sky as a way to quench his thrist. Hey, even he can get thristy and there isn't any water except for the clean water from above! From among the dust clouds, he sensed something approaching until he realized that three bullets in the form of liquid were speeding towards him. Like any common person would do, Sting jumped out of the way until he realized Azure's intent as he glanced upwards.

Above him was a young female Dragon Slayer wielding her blade across her shoulders as she descended down towards him. While Sting was focused on the three bullet-like particles, he didn't notice Azure was only distracting him so she could take him from airborne.

**SLASH! **As fast as lightning, Azure springed down, slashing her sword from his left shoulder down to his right waist. This time, her slash was a little bit more deeper than the previous ones and was about to spill some blood.

Gasping, Sting then turned his attention onto the frail girl and punched at her with one hand while clutching his chest with the other. Azure leaped back in time before backflipped a couple times to gain distance once more. Deciding to use her sword sometime later, she sheathed it for now as she lowered her body.

"Water Dragon's Rush!" Using the puddles below her to ricochet forward, Azure rushed towards Sting at much faster pace.

Once close enough, both Dragon Slayers engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The difference between their strengths was too obvious once their fight started. Sting possessed higher physical strength than Azure could ever accomplish and could witstand much better blows, but on the other hand, Azure was faster and can dodge blows quicker in a blink of an eye.

However, the one true victor belonged to the one with better experience, training, and older years; Sting.

At last, he managed to catch her off guard for almost 2 seconds, but that proved more than enough for him. Not letting his chance waste away, Sting counterattacked with a fury of punches and kicks to her abdomen that would surely leave bruises for a while. All the while, Azure couldn't properly defend and was forced to endure the pain while it lasted. Then, Sting grabbed her neck, easily lifting her up before tossing her high in the air as if she was a rag doll.

Snapping her eyes open, Azure somersaulted in the air once before thrusting her gun-shaped hands forward to unleash a Magic Circle that was targeting Sting. "Water Dragon's Bullets!" Several bullets made of water rained down onto Sting, who had to run around to avoid the Magic bullets. This assault continued until Azure landed safely onto the ground, which she unsheathed her sword once she's done so.

Things were getting heated up until the rain ceased and the sunlight shined down onto the stadium.

Sting smirked. "Perfect." He stepped back and crossed his arms in front of him. "White Dragon's..." He swung his arms forward as if widening a gap. "Brilliant Light!"

**VOOSH! **The area bathed in light, blinding everyone and forcing them to instantly close their eyes shut. It would take a moment for everyone to regain their sight except for Sting, who had closed his eyes at the exact moment of the flash.

"Damnit, Sting! Warn me next time you use that technique!" cursed Rogue, rubbing at his eyes.

Although he was just as blinded temporarily like everyone else, Samuel was still airborne when the bright light shined all over, so he was the next person to regain sight. What he saw next truly caused his face to pale slightly.

Sting lowered his stance as light gathered all over his mouth and this time, it was the weather's turn to assist him instead of Azure. The sunlight provided its excellent job in getting light faster for him and he was close to unleashing his Spell.

"AZURE! STING'S ABOUT TO FIRE SOMETHING FROM HIS MOUTH! MOVE!" hollered Samuel as loudly as he could. Azure clenched her teeth as she struggled to get her eyelids open to see what was happening.

"Too late!" crackled Sting as Azure's vision slowly became clearer. "White Dragon's Roar!"

His Light Magic took the form of a laser attack which headed straight for the girl's chest. The tip of the laser was sharp enough to pierce through, so it would be a fatal blow if she were to take it.

But who said anyone was going to die today?

Widening her eyes, Azure worked fast to conjure up one of her defensive Water Dragon Slayer Spells; adjusting her sword in front of herself in order to activate the water-like barrier. Last time this happened, her barrier blocked everything he threw at her perfectly.

Now that the rain's gone, the battle has turned tides for both teams.

Because Azure pulled a fast one on her Spell, she didn't have time to fully strengthen the defensive power of the barrier, thus explaining all the cracks on it as White Dragon's Roar was extremely close to penetrating it. That didn't stop Azure from trying to fix the cracks with her Magic Power as fast as she could.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't fast enough before the water barrier completely shattered like glass. Instinctively, she used the blunt side of her sword to block the incoming attack. Her sword, however, wasn't fit for taking in Magic Spells, thus shattering just like the water barrier and causing Azure to take the force of Sting's Spell. However, thanks to her water barrier and sword, despite both of them breaking, Sting's White Dragon's Roar was nothing more than a blunt blow instead of a sharp one.

Her body rose into the air, driven by the blow of the laser-like attack before crashing down to the ground. She clutched at her armor, grateful for the defense it had also provided. Too bad that there was now a hole in the chest plate, thus rendering it useless.

Covering her mouth, Azure coughed out blood and started pounding at her chest to get the pain out. She glared at Sting, wanting nothing more than to get rid of that stupid smirk on his face. Knowing that this could cost her less defense, Azure took off her chest plate, feeling more movement to her body without the armor holding her back.

"Mama, is Azure neechan going to be okay?" asked Asuka, growing concern for her.

Bisca patted her daughter in the head. "Don't worry, Asuka-chan. Azure is very strong!" In reality, she too, was worried for Azure and hoped that she would win without too many injuries.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," said Sting, approaching Azure with light gathered in his palm. "But don't worry, 'cause I'm...somewhat of a merciful guy. I'll knock you out so you don't feel anymore pain. But first-"

**SWOOSH! **Azure hurls her half-broken sword at Sting, who easily dodges with a smirk. Knowing that she'd rather fight than talk, Sting charged in as Azure brought her fists together to defend herself.

Azure tried delivering blows to him, but he dodged them with ease now that her breath was unstable and her movements were clumsy. Quickly, he clenched his fist and planted it onto her stomach, hearing a grunt from her lips. However, his true intention wasn't to deliberately bring her pain.

Once his fist punched her stomach, he released the pressure and fired the light that he had previously been gathering. The light merely knocked her back, but barely did any harm to her body. Sting grinned; his task accomplished.

_'Ghh-! I can't move!'_ thought Azure, struggling to break free of her restrictions. A visible stigma was engraved onto her clothing around her stomach area. The stigma greatly resembles a Magic Circle, thus being the cause of her restriction.

"Oh? I bet you're wondering what sort of move I just pulled," said Sting, rolling his shoulder back as he prepared to finish the fight off. "It's my White Dragon's Claw, and so long as that stigma's on your body, you can't move!"

**"While Rogue and Samuel duke it out, Sting has Azure completely vulnerable and looks prepared to finish her off!" **

"How's she going to break out?! Jura-san!" pleaded Chelia, looking at him like he has the answers.

"Hmm..." Jura closed his eyes to think of an answer. 'It's possible that with enough Magic Power, she can block out the Magic stigma's effect and fight back properly. As long as her Magic Power overwhelms that stigma's power..."

"Ehh? What's that flying cat doing?" wondered Jenny, pointing to the sky.

Just as Sting was about to attack Azure, Samuel swooped down and grabbed Azure under her armpits before soaring upwards into the sky. While being airborne, Samuel knew that it wouldn't take long for both Rogue and Sting to start shooting at them. He could dodge one of their blasts, but dealing with the both of them at the same time is impossible, especially since their powers are very destructive. Luckily, he came up with a quick plan the moment he saw Azure unable to move.

"Azure! I have a plan! You do trust me, right?" asked Samuel as they were descending down. Azure nodded, confirming that she was going along with whatever plan her Exceed had. "Good! But you have to rip off your sleeves! We need the fabric!"

By the time the two of them lowered themselves back to the ground, Sting had regrouped with Rogue, who was panting to himself since he had used a large amount of Magic an attempt to bring down Samuel. Shockingly, Samuel was fast enough to dodge even the deadliest of his blows, but he couldn't counterattack. But, that meant that Samuel used some sort of Speed Magic to dodge his blows, thus using up almost all of his Magic to dodge Rogue's.

"What are they doing?" muttered Sting, watching Azure ripping off her sleeves before handing them over to her partner. Samuel swiftly tied the fabrics together to create a sort of long bandage. Was it for taking care of wounds? Granted, both Azure and Samuel were injured, but-

**SLASH! SPLAT!** Much to everyone's shock and horror, Samuel slashed at Azure's stomach with his claws, spilling blood all over.

**"Oh my goodness! Samuel-He-He attacked his own partner! What in the world is going on?!" **

A scream escaped Millianna's mouth before she quickly covered it. She couldn't believe that her favorite cat friend had just...just attacked Azure like that! What was wrong with him?! Why would he do that?!

"EEEEHHH?! WHAT?!" exclaimed Chelia, gripping her pigtails. Lyon and Yuka were taken aback while Toby's jaw and eyes were wide open.

"No, this is good," commented Jura, looking as calm as ever.

"How is this good?! That cat guy just attacked his partner!"

"That may be, but look carefully at her stomach."

"Her...stomach?"

The entire Lamia Scale Team glanced over at Azure as Samuel was trying to wrap her wound with the fabricated bandages, tightening it so it wouldn't come loose. A faint blood stain could be seen visible within the dark blue fabric.

But the stigma was nowhere to be seen.

"I see," spoke Lyon, somewhat relieved. "That's why Samuel attacked. He couldn't find any other way for the stigma to disappear, but if the image were to be ruined, then the stigma would disappear."

"But did he had to cut her stomach like that?" questioned Sherry.

"I'm afraid so," said Jura. "I'm sure Samuel knew what he was doing. He probably didn't cut too deeply for Azure's sake. If he did, then they would have been in serious trouble. Plus, the sleeves serving as bandages helped out a lot. It's obvious that he wants Azure to stay in the game. I'm sure he would never intentionally hurt his partner on purpose."

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Sting and Rogue were still stunned over what they just saw. Samuel, Azure's Exceed, seriously injured his partner? But why? What was the whole point in that? That'd be a crazy decision to make!

"Okay, Azure? Listen up," whispered Samuel. "I've got a little bit of Magic left, but I can support from the air for a while. Just wait until I'm in the air, and then strike with all the speed you have left, okay? Okay."

Just like according to plan, Samuel flapped his wings and flew up to a safe distance in the air. Azure's eyes narrowed as she concentrated; fists clenched as the puddles all over the battlefield shuddered slightly and acted abnormal.

Noticing a huge increase in Magic Power, Rogue turned towards the direction of the Magic Power; Azure. It was then he noticed that the bright stigma on Azure' s stomach was gone.

"Sting. Your White Dragon's Claw is gone."

"Huh?" Sting's eyes grew wide when he saw that the stigma he placed on her disappeared without a trace. "But how-?! That's it! That's why the Exceed attacked her! Damnit, Rogue! We need to-!"

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Tidal Blitz Dance!" yelled Azure, bursting with Magic Power.

Propelling herself forward, Azure dashes off at a faster speed than before, making herself a blue blur in everyone's eyes. As she flies at the two Dragon Slayers, water gathered at her hands and formed into blades. She never halted, always spinning her way around Sting and Rogue, cutting and slashing around with the sharp water blades. Even more, each time she stepped in puddles, her speed increases more and more as the water blades sharpened. The puddles splashed and rose to the point where they looked like waves each time Azure skipped onto them and dashed around, spinning and twirling around like a dancer.

Rogue and Sting found that they couldn't do anything but endure to the best of their ability as the nimble and quick Water Dragon Slayer continuously slashed at them in all directions possible. Small, but multiple cuts soon appeared on their bodies as some water was splashed over them, washing away some blood off their wounds.

To finish off with a grand finale, Azure stopped a few distances away from Sting and Rogue, sweat dripping down her forehead with her water swords nowhere to be found. She spinned around once before pressing her palm onto the drenched ground; a Magic Circle appearing beneath her palm.

Suddenly, an immensely large clawed hand made of water emerged from beneath the ground, swallowing in Sting and Rogue before closing into a fist. Soon, the puddles all merged together into one giant wave and fell upon the two Dragon Slayers.

**"Goodness! In a matter of seconds, Azure has unleashed a devastating, powerful Spell that swallowed up the Twin Dragon Slayers of Sabertooth! What now?!" **

Samuel flew down to congratulate Azure only to be shot several times in the chest by beams of light. Luckily, none of them pierced him, but they were enough to knock him unconscious, thus reverting him back to his normal, smaller self.

**"And Samuel is out for the count! That just leaves Azure alone! But who could have shot Samuel?"**

"No, wait! They're still here!" shouted Risley, spotting the White and Shadow Dragon Slayers. Both were still standing, though they were gasping for breath, injured, and completely drenched from head to toe.

"Wow...You really are strong," panted Sting, shaking his head to get the murky water out of his blond hair. "Hey, Rogue! Stay back! I can handle our little lady friend by myself!"

Rogue was surprised at this remark, but nodded and stood back. "...You're really going to use that?"

"By that, you mean 'White Drive?' Then, yeah. I'm gonna ascend to the next level."

"What does he mean by that?" wondered Bacchus, curious to see where this fight was going to lead. His question was answered when an aura of light cloaked Sting's body, brightening his body quite literally as his stats increased immensely.

"White Drive!" yelled Sting, completing his transformation. Sensing the huge boost in his power, Azure took a stance, knowing what she was about to face was a completely different Sting than before.

The next three minutes was truly terrible in Azure's part. She and Sting engaged in battle, both ranged combat and close combat, using their Dragon Slayer Magic to take one another out. Thanks to Sting's amplification technique, he was able to gain the upper hand and beat Azure badly, while she herself managed to injure Sting a couple of times. Both unleashed destructive Spells which blocked each other out, only agitating the both of them when their Spells failed to take the other out.

Everyone else watched out of excitement and anxiety. Who would win between Azure and Sting? Most were betting on Sting and Rogue, due to the fact that even if Azure somehow defeated Sting, she would have to deal with Rogue, and two Dragon Slayers were bad enough for her. Had Rogue stepped in, she would have been defeated long ago.

Sting and Azure stared at one another, both breathing heavily as they increased their Magic Power to release yet another powerful Spell to use against each other. Sting pulled his fist back and started collecting light around it while Azure raised her arms, collecting a mass of water from the moisture in the air, the puddles, anything liquid related.

"White Dragon's Holy Nova!"

"Water Dragon's Encircling Deluge!"

At the same time, both of them casted their Spells; one of Light and one of Water. A massive burst of water exploded from the ground and formed into a giant tsunami-like wave that prepared to engulf Sting. Sting then thrusted his fist forward, releasing a large quantity of light he had been storing and making his Spell clash with hers.

It seemed one-sided at first, but then the Holy Nova Spell proved too much for Encircling Deluge, destroying it as it exploded upon impact and managed to blast Azure among its destruction as well. Her shrill screams serving as proof that she was hit.

All that was left was large amounts of dust that covered the area, but Sting and Rogue assumed that Azure didn't make it. Judging from her screams and that fact that she was pulled in the explosion, anyone would assume that nobody could possibly survive a situation like that.

"DAMN...I...WON'T...! GIVE...UP...!"

Sting and Rogue went into a shocked state once they heard an aggressive, yet familiar voice declaring out loud from among the dust. The dust clouds soon cleared, making way for Azure, whose body was all bloodied, torn, and shaking. She had her arm extended as blood poured out from her wounds and mouth, focusing on Magic.

"I'M...NOT...QUITTING...! I...PROMISED...WINNING...OR...DIE...TRYING...!"

Romeo, having heard this, felt like he was being reminded of something. Those words...He felt like they were the second time he's heard them. But where was it that he first heard them...?

* * *

_Flashback..._

_Seeing Azure walk towards him, Romeo stood up and placed his hands in his pockets. "Oh, it's you. The others sent me to go find you. Let's just go."_

_Samuel noticed the restraint behind Romeo's words and how he was gritting his teeth, as if he was hiding some sort of anger. "Azure, hold on-"_

_"Oh, okay!" came Azure's chirpy tone. "Sorry for being late, but I had to help heal Lyon! He was really badly injured, and I had to heal him! But anyways, nice try about trying to beat Hibiki today! You were so close to beat-"_

_"Would you knock it off already?!" Snapping, Romeo interrupted Azure and whirled at her, facing her with anger in his eyes. "Can't you see how I'm not in a talkactive mood right now?! Can't you see just how hurt and humiliated I was today?! Huh?! Obviously you can;t because you're an idiot!"_

_Surprised at his outburst, Samuel tried to speak up. "Just calm down, Romeo. It's not good to be all ang-"_

_"Shut it, Samuel! I'm talking to the Usagi, not you!" Paying attention to Azure, who was wide-eyed at his attitude, he continued. "Why don't you shut up for once, huh? Why'd you convince my father to enter these stupid games in the first place, huh?! To humiliate us more?!"_

_"No, it was to help Fairy Tail, that's all!" replied Azure, winching from all the shouting._

_Romeo scoffed, lowering his head as if annoyed at her. "Some help that was! You really are hopeless, aren't you, Azure?" Sighing, he turned around, muttering in a breath only Azure could hear._

_"Sometimes, I wish you were dead."_

_"..."_

_The air suddenly felt thick, as if they were in space and had nothing to breath. Samuel had no idea what Romeo had just said, but judging from the silence coming from both Romeo and Azure, it wasn't pretty._

_"...Okay, sure!" chirped Azure happily. "Romeo, I promise that I will bring victory to Fairy Tail, even if it kills me!"_

_"Yeah, whatever," grumbled Romeo, turning away and not wanting to hear the happy girl's annoying voice. After Azure and Samuel left, Romeo fell right back to his seat on the bench, clutching his forehead as he felt guilt rising up inside of him. "Goddamnit..."_

* * *

No...it couldn't be...Could Azure really go through her words, even through that length? Even at the expense of her life, she's still willing to do this for Fairy Tail?

**"Azure survived! But it seems that she's heavily wounded! How will she respond now?!"**

"How are you still standing?! You took a full blow from my Holy Nova!" yelled Sting, growing irritated of this girl's stubborness. Seriously, nobody should survive or recover from such a large explosion, so how did she manage to?

"SECRET DRAGON SLAYER! ART!" screamed Azure, too frustrated and tired to answer to Sting's proclaims. "HEAVENLY INFINITY DELUGE!"

A wide Magic Circle appeared beneath Sting and Rogue's feet, extending all the way nearby Azure. Not only that, but soon, several rings of Magic Circles surrounded the Twin Dragon Slayers, extending from the ground towards the skies, thus surrounding the entire battlefield with no means of escape.

**"Oh! Several Magic Circles have surrounded the field! I've never seen so many at once!" **

"Whoa...So many!" cried out Beth.

"Yet it consumes a larger amount of Magic Power," pointed out Kagura. "Look at Azure; she's vey tired and looks ready to collapse, especially in her condition. Anymore fighting, and she'll end up more than injured. She'll be dead before long."

"What?! But the tournament can't allowed death!" shouted Millianna. "I don't think that the advisors would allow-"

"Then, tell me something, Millianna. Was there ever a rule implying that an opponent cannot kill their own opponent?"

"W-well, no...But-!"

"Then, there you go. Whether her death is by her own doing or not, that's up to Azure's choice."

"Damnit!" Sting murmured, preparing to unleash his Magic along with Rogue as they tried to escape their previous spot towards a safer location. Unfortunately for the both of them, they weren't fast enough.

The moment they started running, large, massive amounts of water burst out of the Magic Circles, acting as multiple waterfalls as they began to flood the entire area along with Sting and Rogue. However, they didn't affect anyone but the two as the Spell was focused only on them and acted as a direct hit. The Magic Circles from above the skies also sent out water, spilling downwards and creating a sea made from waterfalls.

"Did she do it?" wondered Eve, standing up like a few others in his guild, waiting to see if Sting and Rogue were out after taking on an advanced Dragon Slayer Spell like that.

**"Could this be it? Could Azure have-No wait...Sting and Rogue have emerged, still staying in the fight!" **

Soaking wet and coughing out water, Sting and Rogue managed to survive another one of Azure's powerful Spells, proving how durable they really are. However, they seemed more injured than before and were completely out of breath. Not only that, but both were claded in both dark and light auras, indicating that Rogue activated his own amplification technique, Shadow Drive, as Sting had already done so with his White Drive, to reduce the damage.

"Are you kidding me?!" shouted Max, throwing his arms up out of frustration.

"Hey, how's Azure going to get out of this one?!" asked Chelia, wanting Azure to win the battle.

"She can't. It's most likely that after casting that Spell, she's out of Magic Power," said Jura. "At the very most, she probably has a little bit left.

Lyon sighed, shaking his head. "It's no good. She can't win. I wouldn't blame her if she surrendered. The moment she was left alone to face those two, her fate of losing was probably decided."

Azure was left shocked that both Rogue and Sting were still standing after all her efforts to stop them. Gritting her teeth, she concentrated on whatever Magic Power she had remaining, ignoring her own painful wounds.

Sting rolled his eyes before rushing forward at a fast speed and kicking her straight in the stomach. The force of the kick was enough to throw her back and roll around the ground until she screeched to a stop. Struggling to get up, Azure clutched at her stomach; the blood loss proving too much as more blood stains spread across the dark blue bandages. She couldn't help but puke out blood from the impact.

Sensing danger up ahead, Alzack covered his daughter's eyes and turned to Bisca. "Bisca, take Asuka away from here. Please, right now."

"Papa? Mama? What's going on? Why is Azure oneechan having red paint?" asked Asuka, unable to see anything through the influence of her father.

Bisca scooped up her daughter in her arms and whisked her away inside, not willing to let her daughter be traumatized by the scene before her. Bisca herself wanted to puke at the sight but she stayed strong for her daughter.

Rogue glared at Sting, thinking he went too far. "Sting! That's enough! She's obviously in no shape to move!"

"Hey, she should have stayed down when she had the chance," replied Sting, turning to face his partner as Azure stood up, shaking as she gathered Magic Power in her palms in the form of water. "Maybe then, she'll-"

"HYAH!" Letting loose a loud cry, Azure threw her orb of water at the back of Sting's head, splashing him instead of inflicting damage to him. When weakened, one must concentrate hard to use Magic, but it could also cost them their life if not careful. The least it could do is merely damage the body even further, so Azure's body spilled more blood from her wounds, mouth, and this time, her eyes, which were now pink with red veins growing.

A tick mark formed at the back of his head, leaving the White Dragon Slayer tiresome of her actions. "That's it!" Swiftly facing her, Sting fired a beam from his hand, which intended to knock her out.

Unfortunately, the beam shot straight until it hit her eye, crushing it effectively.

**SPLAT. **A disgusting, crushing sound occured the moment her eye was crushed, horrifying everyone in the entire stadium-no, anyone that was watching the current fight. It took less than a second for Azure's brain to register the ugly pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Azure's heart tearing and abnormal screaming nearly shattered everyone's eardrums; her scream filled with nothing but pain and despair. The loss of her nonfunctional and crushed eye nearly made her mad, causing her to cover her bleeding eye with both hands as she stumbled around, screaming nonstop.

**"M-My goodness! Azure's eye has been-been penetrated by Sting's attack!" **

Nobody could do anything but stare. Romeo, out of all of his guild members, felt an unimaginable guilt pelting inside of him. Was this really all his doing? Because he had unintentionally encouraged her? What...what has he done?

"M-MY EYE! MY EYE! MY EYE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Knowing that he was left with no other choice, Rogue rushed over to Azure's side and chopped the back of her neck with her palm, pressing in the correct amount of pressure. He managed to catch her before she fell unconscious and he laid her down on the ground gently.

**"Rogue has knocked out Azure! This leaves Rogue and Sting the winners! T-Team Sabertooth receives 10 Points!" **

Spotting the paramedics rushing onto the battlefield to tend to Azure and her partner, Rogue was fully assured that they would be taken care of under the best healers in the city. He walked over to his partner, sending him a dissapointing glare.

"Rogue-"

"Don't. We'll talk later, but for now, I don't want to hear anything from you."

"AZURE! SAMUEL!" Romeo, Alzack, Max, and Kinana ran towards the battlefield, trying to reach out for their fallen comrades. Team Blue Pegasus, Millianna from Mermaid Heel, and Lyon and Chelia also rushed to the large arena as well, trying to provide aid.

"Hurry, hurry!"

"We gotta get them to the infirmary!"

"Inform the surgeons! We're going to have to start some surgery!"

"Chelia, can you try and keep Azure on support? Your healing Magic could work a lot!"

"Understood! I'll keep her alive!"

"Azure! Hang on!"

"Quick! Someone get Samuel, too! He's injured too!"

"Not as badly as Azure! Damnit!"

"We need some blood bags! Somebody seal those wounds before anymore blood is spilled! We can't have these folks die of blood loss!"

"Get them to a room! Hurry!"

**1st Place: Sabertooth: 62 Points**

**2nd Place: Mermaid Heel: 42 Points**

**3rd Place: Lamia Scale: 38 Points**

**4th Place: Quatro Cerberus: 31 Points**

**5th Place: Blue Pegasus: 29 Points**

**6th Place: Fairy Tail: 19 Points**

* * *

**Yikes...That was gruesome. Still, I made it so Azure wasn't a Mary Sue. Mary Sues win all the time, but I had Azure's weaknesses and she lost this time even with her best partner at her side. But...Jeez...**

**Alright, announcement! I won't be doing this fanfic for a while because of busy times in my life! And, for God's sake, STOP. TELLING. ME. TO. MAKE. . IN. THE. REVIEWS!**

**Seriously, people! I kinda have enough things in my life as it is! Please don't tell me over and over! I appreciate the reminder, but please! I'll get to the next chapter in another time! There's a time and place for everything, but not now!**

**With that said, read and review!**


End file.
